Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen
by Wingless Night
Summary: When Sasuke and Naruto are battling Haku, what if it was Naruto not Sasuke that jumped out and saved his teammate. SasuNaru, Sakurabashing and OOC, AUish.
1. Going Under

**Disclaimer**: I don't own, nor will I ever own, Naruto. I can only wait for it to come out in English so my poor non-Japanese reading eyes can see. Damn translators take to long, but their still Gods in my book.

**Pairings**: SasuNaru… I don't know what else

**Warnings**: shonen ai, . Haku OOC, Sasuke OOC (a lil at the end… mou), Sakura-bashing! Fun shit like that… ahh, yes, there will be cursing so if you don't like cursing (or shonen ai or yaoi) click the back button now. This is your final warning… if you're not, enjoy!

**Summary**: When Sasuke and Naruto are trapped inside the mirrors, Haku tries to kill Sasuke, but what if a certain blonde jumped in the way and intercepted the attack?

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 01: Going Under**

Sasuke looked at the scene in front of him. It couldn't be real. This had to be some kind of joke. _It had to be some kind of fucking joke!_

Standing in front of him was a familiar orange suit. The blonde's back was to the dark-haired boy. Sasuke didn't need to be told what happened as his eyes widened. The boy tottered eerily on his feet.

Around them were the ice mirrors, where Haku, a hunter-nin impersonator, was. The two had been fighting with all they got, only to be sliced slowly, layer by layer of skin shot off by the small wooden needles that Haku used as weaponry. The boy's mask was still in place, but he hesitated, as though he were unsure.

Sasuke didn't care about Haku right now. The blonde turned his head to Sasuke, looking over his shoulder with eerie red eyes, flecked with blue spots.

"Guess I repaid my debt," the blonde murmured before hacking some blood out of his mouth.

The faint sound of the drops of blood wrenched the reality of the situation back to Sasuke's vision.

Slowly Naruto began to fall backwards. Without even thinking, Sasuke immediately held out his bloodied arms, catching his teammate's body.

Naruto smiled, a real smile – not a fox grin as his eyes, which had turned crimson during battle, melted back into a cerulean blue.

Sasuke didn't know what overcame him… his mind kept flashing back to _that time_. When Itachi, his older brother, had slaughtered his entire clan. But that made no sense to the boy. After all… Sasuke didn't care about Uzumaki Naruto, did he?

No.

But then why did he feel like he wanted to cry.

Why did he feel like he wanted to break down?

He hated Naruto. Naruto was his rival. He should be _glad_ the dobe was dying. But… he didn't.

Naruto's smile became a little brighter as his eyelids drooped.

"No!" Sasuke found himself muttering. "Don't close your eyes, dobe… come on, Naruto! Open up your eyes! Open your fucking eyes!"

With the last amount of effort that he could pull, Naruto looked up at Sasuke with a soft smile, one covered in blood, but held no bitterness. Instead, Sasuke felt… warm when he saw that smile. It was then that he realized what the blonde normally was.

Alone.

"Thank you," Naruto whispered, the smile never leaving his face as his eyelids slid shut on their own accord.

Sasuke shook Naruto. The boy didn't stir. He began murmuring to the blonde, but Naruto wasn't responding to anything. Sasuke, finally managing to get some amount of self-control over himself, checked the boy for any signs of life.

His pulse was gone.

His heartbeat was missing.

His breath had stopped.

Uzumaki Naruto had died.

Haku took a step closer, his foot echoing through Sasuke's head. The boy felt rage boil within him, but he had to remain calm – he was known as the Prince of Ice, and now was one of the times when he had to show the world this. Slowly, he came to a stop, a good distance away from the two younger boys.

"'I'm going to become Hokage and make everyone in my village acknowledge me'," Haku said quietly, still keeping a distance between himself and Sasuke.

Sasuke's dark bangs covered his eyes. Why was this asshole quoting Naruto's most favorite line? Why did… this happen?

The question bounced around in his brain, but Sasuke couldn't find an answer to it.

"That boy… he has suffered much in his lifetime," Haku kept speaking. Sasuke's hand clenched into a fist. Haku didn't respond to that action. Instead, he kept talking. "He harbored a great evil… and yet he still smiles. Happiness is based on sacrifice. There is no such thing as true happiness, only an illusion placed before your eyes."

"Shut up," Sasuke growled low in his throat. He could feel himself shaking as he still held on to Naruto's cold body protectively.

"What?" Haku asked slowly. "Didn't you know about your friend here? Didn't you know that he's been orphaned since birth – neglected by the very village he tries so diligently to protect, and the very people he calls his friends?"

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke shouted. His bloodline limit, Sharingan, flared to life. "_Don't talk about Naruto, you son of a bitch!"_

"Why not, Sasuke?" Haku sneered. "He's dead… it is only out of respect for him that I'm revealing to you what his life was like. I seriously doubt you know anything about him. And he's your teammate. Yet I only met him once… and here I stand, knowing more from that one meeting that you have since you've been together."

Sasuke felt his fingers clench and unclench as he tried to reign in his anger.

Haku saw this, eyes glinting through the mask he wore. Even though, without his mask, he was as docile and as level-headed as anyone, within the mask, he was a ruthless killer. This mask held some sort of spell over him, making him into a demon like Zabuza.

It was a pity, in a way, to see that the blonde had died. But he died for another, and that in itself was something to honor.

"The least you could do, Uchiha," Haku whispered. "Is honor his sacrifice. He died for _you_, to protect someone he held close, he sacrificed his life."

Sasuke was shaking in anger. He slowly, gracefully, set Naruto's body on the ground. The orange-clad boy looked wrong, laying there like that.

_It should be me,_ Sasuke thought. _If you hadn't jumped in front… then… I wouldn't have to question this act… I wouldn't have to ask 'why'. I'd be in the blissful recluse of death – something you are in now, dobe. That's why you shouldn't have jumped. I can't care for you or your sacrifice. I have to kill Itachi. I have to avenge my clan. Caring makes you weak. Caring makes you dead._

He turned to Haku, calm once more as he repeated his mantra in his head. The Uchiha had always had good control over his feelings. This moment shouldn't be any different, he thought. A smirk graced his features as he stared as the somewhat older boy.

"Are you going to stand there and talk, or are you going to fight," he challenged.

Haku grinned sadistically beneath his mask. This would be fun.

The two raced at each other, the mirrors forgotten in their conflict. Kunai clashed with acupuncture needle, as the two whirled, twisted, attacked, blocked and dodged in a graceful dance of death.

It was a wonder that they hadn't hit the body of the Kitsune boy.

Still they flew around in a magnificent wonder, as though they were alighted from the ground, taking on the speed and flight of hawks. Sasuke stared at Haku, his Sharingan burning brightly.

All he could do was drunkenly think about what a challenge this would be. Haku slammed in for another attack. Blocking the needle with a blade, Sauske pulled back and ducked under Haku's guard, punching the boy's stomach. Haku flew back and Sasuke rushed towards him.

Now that they were slightly tired, the dance had become more weary, blood showed on both figures and it was obvious that whoever survived would have a long time healing after this was over. Suddenly, Sasuke kicked at Haku's face, breaking the pale mask.

Haku stopped.

Sasuke's kunai didn't.

It plunged into Haku's chest, blood erupting from the wound. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw what happened.

Haku was smiling – the same smile that Naruto had smiled before dying. And then he was gone. Dropping his hand from the hilt of the kunai, the Uchiha watched as his opponent slumped over.

Then he proceeded to vomit over his first kill off the side of the bridge.

The fight between Zabuza and Kakashi was long since over and the mist had pretty much evaporated. A pink-haired kunoichi grabbed Tazuna's hand as she dragged over to where the ice mirrors once were.

"Sasuke-kun!" she called.

Sakura searched for the Uchiha, only to find him doubled over the side of the bridge. Looking a few feet behind him, was the body of the boy with the mask. A few feet away from that was the still form of Naruto.

Sakura let go of Tazuna's hand as she walked quietly over to Sasuke. She could hear the wretching sounds the boy was making as he puked.

"Sasuke!" she said, glad that he was okay. Now that she could see him, she promptly forgot all about the forms of Haku and Naruto.

Sasuke looked at her blankly. For a second… he had thought that it was someone else's voice… but that was only wishful thinking on his part.

Kakashi walked over, his one visible eye grave as he surveyed the scene: Haku with a kunai in his chest and Naruto with senboku buried in his body.

"Sasuke," he spoke, his voice serious, unlike its normal joking manner. "What happened here?"

As he was talking to Sasuke, Kakashi went over to Naruto, checking on the boy's health. Or lack thereof. He had to make sure that it wasn't just a state of death while the boy was unconscious. He had seen those before, and it wasn't exactly healthy, as it drained the body of a lot of energy and chakra and kept the person on bedrest for a week, at the very least.

Slowly, as Kakashi looked over the limp form in front of him, he noticed something.

The seal for the Kyuubi no Kitsune was glowing. Suddenly, the boy's body jolted, as though it had been hit by a thousand lightning bolts. It was still again. Another jolt moved the body once more. This repeated two more times before a soft groan emitted from the boy.

Kakashi's eye clouded over with wonder. Did he just see what he thought he saw? Noticing that Naruto could fall under Death's wings once more at any moment, Kakashi called Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna over to him.

"Help me with these needles, we need to extract them if there's any chance on Naruto surviving," Kakashi barked.

The three nodded and then the group went to work, removing what felt like a thousand needles from the boy's corpse. As soon as they were done, Kakashi scooped Naruto up in his arms, told them he was going back to Tazuna's, and poofed out.

Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna stared at the spot he had previously occupied for a moment before Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, what happened?"

"He died," the Uchiha replied shortly.

"Oh, I don't care about _him_," Sakura gushed. "I was wondering about _you_. What did you do?"

Sasuke glared at her. Haku's words were still floating in his mind. _Didn't you know that he's been orphaned since birth – neglected by the very village he tries so diligently to protect, and the very people he calls his friends?_

He growled softly to himself before shaking Sakura off his arm.

"_Naruto almost died protecting me, so don't talk about him like that, you fucking bitch!"_ Sasuke blurted out before he could stop himself. He shook his head and made his way quickly towards Tazuna's house.

He really needed to clear his head, he was being too emotional.

_Kyuubi-kun's Korner!_

_I know, I know, Haku's out of character… and Sasuke's a little screwed up in the head. But aside from that… and the fact that this is just weird, what do you think of it? Also, I had read and seen Naruto and I know that Haku never actually killed Sasuke. But this is artistic license that I'm taking here. _

_ARIGATOU-GOZIMASU OOKIMA-SAN! She helped me decide whether I should write this or not. _


	2. Bring Me Back to Life

**Disclaimer**: I don't own, nor will I ever own, Naruto. I can only wait for it to come out in English so my poor non-Japanese reading eyes can see what's going on. Even though the translators take so much fucking time to translate… they're all still gods in my book.

**Pairings**: SasuNaru… I don't know what else

**Warnings**: shonen ai, language, as minor OOC as I can get, um… oh yeah, Sakurabashing. I like Sakura… but I need her to a bitch.

**Summary**: When Sasuke and Naruto are battling Haku, what if it was Naruto - not Sasuke - that jumped out and saved his teammate

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 02: Bring Me Back to Life**

Sakura stared after Sasuke, a broken look on her face. She was angry. Angry that he had brushed her off once more, and for what? That damn blonde! Fuck Naruto, didn't Sasuke see how much she cared about him? Didn't he see how much she would do for him? She would do anything if he would just give her the chance. But no, this is Sasuke we're talking about. He doesn't give anyone the time of day, least of all her.

_Naruto almost died protecting me, so don't talk about him like that, you fucking bitch!_

Yeah, so Sasuke obviously would give Naruto his protection.

_Just you wait, Naruto,_ Sakura thought to herself, her eyes burning with rage. She would show that fucked up ninja-wannabe what the old saying. A woman scorned was the most evil force in or out of Hell.

Tazuna wisely chose not to speak as he followed an emotional Sasuke and a raging Sakura back to his house. He wondered how the blonde brat was doing. After all… then he stopped, shaking his head.

Inari… what would happen to Inari? He had placed his hopes in the blonde… and now Uzumaki Naruto was returning to him, after all of his boastful, hope-raising words… dead, or close enough to fool the child anyway.

Back at Tazuna's property, Tsunami (at least I think that's her name, his daughter) was running to and fro, grabbing towels, filling up a bowl of water, getting adages, anti-septic, and anything else that she thought that would help him. Inari was staring at the blonde, a strange expression on his face. He bit his lip, trying not to cry, as tears leaked out of his eyes and down his chest.

He knew Naruto was close to dying. Now… another strong person he had looked up to… believed in… was dead… all thanks to his family… maybe even to him. He could hear the blonde's voice in his head, even though they had known each other for a short time, the blonde had accepted him – and helped him.

_Because even if we make ourselves sick to do it, we have to eat if we want to get strong. _

_I'm going to prove to him that he's wrong. I'm going to show Inari… that there are still heroes in the world!_

_Shut up! I'm not you and I'm not going to lose._

_So you think its fun to star in your own melodrama and treat everyone around you like guests at your pity party. It takes a really big man to sit around and cry, you brat! You big baby!_

And then there was Kakashi's voice, after the last incident when Naruto had insulted him and walked off. Inari had run out and Kakashi had followed him.

_You know… Naruto's kind of a brat, but he wasn't trying to be mean or hateful… he just, lacks finesse. Tazuna-san told us what happened to your father. Naruto grew up without a father too, just like you. Actually, without any parents, he doesn't remember either one of them. Or have any friends. His life is one big, painful memory. But in all the time I've known him, I've never seen him cry, or use his troubles as an excuse to sulk or be a coward once. He always tries his hardest, hoping someone will notice and give him a kind word or a pat on the back. That's his dream and he's risked his life for it. I think one day, he must have just gotten fed up with crying. He understands what it means to be strong. He knows what it costs and what it's worth… just as your father did. Naruto probably understands you and knows how you feel better than any of the rest of us. He can't leave you alone… because you've gotten under his skin._

Inari bolted from the room. Tsunami and Kakashi noticed, but they had to work with Naruto right now. As long as Inari didn't do anything stupid, then everything would be okay here… they needed to worry about Naruto.

For the second time on the trip to the Wave Country, Kakashi found himself cleaning up Naruto's wounds. Unlike last time, though, the wounds didn't heal themselves. For some reason, this disturbed Kakashi.

The Kyubi no Kitsune was known for having an unlimited amount of chakra… but it seemed to recovering its own chakra. Just how much chakra did the Kyubi have to use in order to restart Naruto's heart. The boy had been dead. Kakashi had known that. He could tell that by the fact that all of the blood that should have been flowing, had slowed considerably. Kakashi had brought him here instead of a hospital, because of the Kyubi.

But the Kyubi wasn't helping Naruto. If Kakashi didn't get Naruto to a hospital soon, the boy would die – and with even Kyubi in a state of non-perfection, then there would be no hope for a rebirth.

"Tsunami," he spoke softly. The woman immediately gave him her full attention. "I need to take Naruto back to Konohagakure, so that he can be in a real hospital. There is nothing I can do for him here. Tell Sasuke and Sakura to complete the mission and then return."

Tsunami nodded.

Kakashi gathered the boy in his arms, all of his wounds bandaged, before making his way as quickly as he could back to his hometown. Walking, it would have taken at least a day. But Kakashi felt speed empower him as he flew through the trees, taking the shortest route. If he was lucky, it would only be a matter of hours.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna soon made it back to Tazuna's house, with Tsunami there to greet them. One of the bedrolls was soaked in blood, so it was obvious that Naruto had lain there, but the blonde was no longer there, and neither was there sensei.

Tsunami stepped forward. "Naruto's wounds were too fatal for him to be cared for without professional help. Since there is no hospital in this village, Kakashi-san took Naruto-kun back to Konohagakure. He told me to tell you that you are to complete the mission before returning. Now, Sasuke-kun," her voice now held a motherly tone. He stared at her, unreadable. "Come over here and let me clean up your wounds."

"No," Sasuke said. "I can get them myself."

To his surprise, Tsunami stomped over to him and whacked him upside the head. "You won't be even able to make it back to Konohagakure in that condition, let along protect Father before that!" she growled.

Sasuke winced at the sound of her voice. It was so much like his own mother's when he would scrape his knee and she would tend to him. He shook off that memory, he didn't need to be this damn emotional. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Why did he think about _that time_ when Naruto fell? Why?

The question plagued his mind, but he didn't know how to answer. Slowly, he nodded and Tsunami drew him over to the table, making him sit down. She carefully cleaned and washed all of his cuts made by the senbon before wrapping them carefully in bandages.

"There you go, Sasuke-kun," Tsunami said when she was finished. Sasuke blushed, turning his head away from her as he muttered a small thanks. Tsunami smiled and ruffled his hair. She had gotten to know the pale boy since he had come, and although she didn't know much about him… she knew that things like this were hard for him.

"No problem, Sasuke-kun," she told him. She turned to Sakura and Tazuna. "Do either of you have any injuries?"

Both shook their heads. Tsunami smiled. "All right."

She bustled around, cleaning up what she had taken out and also rolling up the bloody bedroll and throwing it out. Blood can't be cleaned. She knew that already.

Suddenly, she turned to them. "You three go and rest," she ordered. "I'll make dinner and get you when I'm finished."

Tazuna, Sakura and Sasuke nodded, not wanting to be beaten to death by this woman. Tsunami smiled as she watched them walk off – Father going to his room, Sasuke to his and Naruto's… or just his now, and Sakura to hers. She stared outside, towards where Konoha lay. She hoped Naruto was okay.

It only took three hours ((I'm making this up here, people, and this is Kakashi we're talking about. He probably learned a super speed jutsu or something)) for Kakashi to reach the gates of Konoha. He was panting, and he knew he would fall over soon, but he had to reach the hospital first. The gates opened, allowing the jounin inside with his student. Seeing how crowded it was in the streets, Kakashi jumped onto the rooftops and ran towards the hospital that way.

He could see Naruto's chest rising and falling, if only a little bit. The seal had stopped glowing about two hours beforehand and Kakashi didn't know whether he should be worried or relieved that such a thing happened. There were things happening that he didn't understand.

But he was glad to back in a place where Sarutobi, the current Hokage, was. Now, all Kakashi needed to do was make sure Naruto got to the hospital safe, then he would visit Hokage and tell him what had happened, then he could only hope that Sakura and Sasuke could complete the mission that they were given. After Naruto was in stable condition, and if they had not yet returned, than Kakashi would go to them to help them complete their job.

But first on that list was Naruto and the hospital, which loomed closer with each leap. After a few more seconds of bounding from rooftop to rooftop, using chakra to make his trip easier, Kakashi was at the entrance to hospital. He could see that it was just beginning to get dark as he walked inside.

"May I help you?" a nurse asked as she walked past him, since he looked around, as there was no one at the desk. Probably went off to the bathroom, he mused before his mind focused on the matter at hand.

"This boy is dying…" Kakashi managed to rasp out, his voice nearly gone from all of the running.

The nurse eeped when she saw Naruto. "Isn't he…?" she inquired but before she managed to finish her statement, Kakashi turned his one-eyed glare to her.

"He is a ninja of Konohagakure, Uzumaki Naruto, and he is hurt – _will you heal him or not?_" Kakashi yelled, raising his voice for the first time in what felt like years. He was usually a laidback fellow, but that didn't mean that people could disrespect his subordinates and get away with it. He glared at her.

The nurse walked over to an intercom and called for a stretcher, saying it was an emergency. The other doctors and nurses that came with the stretcher had the same response as the first nurse, but they were silenced by Kakashi. As they wheeled the unconscious blonde away, they clearly heard Kakashi's threat.

"If you do not try your best with him, you shall die."

Darkness surrounded the boy… everything was silent and hazy. There were shapes, but he couldn't distinguish them. Voices rang through, but they were muted by the rushing sound that came around him.

He saw Sasuke above him, the boy looked frantic, he was shouting something, but Naruto couldn't decipher it. He smiled, glad that for once, someone was acknowledging him.

That he wasn't a demon.

That someone would be sad when he died.

That people cared, at the very least, for him.

And he loved them with all of his heart. He wouldn't let anyone hurt them – not as long as he had breath left in his body. So he stepped up to the challenge that Haku had thrown at him.

_When someone is protecting something truly precious, they become truly as strong as they must be. _

Naruto, the container of the Kyubi no Kitsune, was no different than anyone else. Even though, for his entire life, he was treated different, he wasn't. So, while Sasuke was looking at one of the other doppelgangers that Haku had, Naruto's fox instincts had pointed out the real one, with his aim on the Uchiha's back. Naruto, faster than he knew he could move, jumped in front of Sasuke.

The boy had turned when he heard Naruto's running footsteps, staring at him with a strange look on his face, though Naruto, as he felt pain burn up his arms, legs and everywhere else – for the senbon had even penetrated his neck – Naruto turned to the boy.

"Guess I repaid my debt," he muttered before feeling gravity push him off his feet. He braced himself for contact with the ground, vaguely remembering that it wouldn't matter – there was no way even Kyubi could heal all of this.

He felt surprise rush through him when he felt someone's arms catching his limp frame. He wanted to close his eyes, a smile appearing on his face. Sasuke was saying something… yelling at him and shaking him slightly. Naruto, for all the pain it caused, was glad of this.

It meant, that to some extent, the pale boy cared for him. That made him happier than he had ever felt during his short lifespan.

"Thank you," he whispered, allowing his eyes to slide shut. Everything had gone black right then.

And he had appeared in this place… this hazy vision. It wasn't what he had always imagined death to be like. The form of Sasuke disappeared. Naruto continued walking, though, not sure of what he was doing here – or where "here" was.

Suddenly the mist in front of him took on the form of a great gate. Behind the gate were glowing eyes. Naruto approached the finely made object, reaching out to touch it with his hand. He felt the cool metal surface beneath his scarred and bloodied hand.

"What's this?" he whispered. His voice echoed, sounded lost, confused even to him.

"I hate to do this, kid, but if you die, then so will I," a voice from behind the gate growled.

"Do what? Who's there?" Naruto asked, confused. He stepped closer to the gate trying to peer through.

All of the sudden red chakra illuminated the gate, shocking the poor blonde. Naruto screamed, and another came, and another, and another. After the fourth one, that place disappeared as Naruto was thrown back to where he was supposed to be.

He groggily tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn't work. Tired, he slipped back into peaceful darkness.

When he awoke again, everything was different from the last time. He didn't have cold stone underneath his head. He didn't smell Kakashi nearby and he couldn't hear the splashing of waves against the bottom of the bridge.

It confused him. Slowly, he opened his eyes, looking up at the clean white ceiling of the hospital room. The minute he tried to sit up, he let out a low hiss, realizing that to try and sit up right now was stupid. Unlike most times he was knocked out, Naruto didn't recover his health. He felt… if possible… weaker than he had before.

Everything smelled sterile, looked sterile and probably was sterile, considering that it was a hospital. Naruto could tell by the disgusting smell and by the fact that a nurse had just walked into his room.

"Are you awake?" the woman asked, not really caring about being nice about her tone.

"H-hai…" Naruto whispered, not being able to pull his voice up any higher than that. "H-how…long have I been… asleep?"

"Kakashi brought you in here four days ago. You have been unconscious ever since," was the reply. Again, the tone was strict, crisp and uncaring. There was no questions of "how are you feeling?" or "do you feel well enough to eat?" or things like that. This woman obviously hated him. Naruto looked at the ceiling again, trying to keep tears from leaking out of his eyes.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei now?"

"He went back to the Wave Country."

"Oh."

And with that, and checking his temperature, the nurse left him.

The moment Kakashi had returned to the Wave Country and had met up with his students, he was bombarded with questions from the unlikeliest source.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke growled out once the man had stepped through the entrance. Sakura was sulking in the seat across from Sasuke at the table. Tazuna was nearby. Inari was staring at the floor from his seat. He looked up hopefully when he heard someone come in and upon seeing who it was, turned his attention downwards again.

"Sasuke," Kakashi replied the Uchiha lightly. Sasuke stood up and walked over to the man.

"We need to talk," was all the genin would spit out before walking out the door. Kakashi heaved a sigh. This was going to take a while.

He followed Sasuke out the door, knowing full well that Tazuna would be guarded by Sakura.

He saw Sasuke sitting at the end of the docks. Walking over to him, Kakashi sat down next to him. They stayed like this for a moment before Sasuke spoke, not looking at his teacher.

"How is Naruto?" he asked softly.

"Stable," came the answer from the silver-haired jounin. "That's all I can say."

"What do you mean 'that's all you can say'," Sasuke snarled, not meaning to act so angry. What had happened to his self-control? He felt like he was losing it! And that wasn't a good feeling. He didn't like letting go of the fortress he had built within him.

Kakashi didn't comment on Sasuke's new behavior, instead he took a while before answering. "That's all I can say because… I have responsibility to all three of you," he spoke slowly, as though thinking about each word before saying it. "Naruto has many more people around him back in Konoha than you two have here. Therefore, I left him in the caring hands of the Leaf and am now prepared to help you here."

With that, Kakashi left Sasuke to contemplate what he had said.

Sasuke remained there, hoping that no one would disturb his musings. What Kakashi had said was believable, but Sasuke still didn't like staying here.

Only two more days though.

Only two days until the bridge was finished.

He stared over the waters in the general direction of his village, where he knew Naruto was still laying unconscious.

Two days later, the three of them stood at the gateway to the finally finished bridge. Tazuna and the workers stood with him.

"Gatou won't be giving us anymore trouble, hopefully, and it doesn't matter – the bridge is built," Tazuna said.

"It needs a name!" one of the workers called out.

Tazuna looked at Kakashi with a small smile on his face. He turned to the others. "What about… 'The Great Uzumaki Naruto Bridge'," he said.

Even Kakashi looked a bit startled. Tazuna, who was standing next to the jounin, dropped his voice and said, "It is best if we honor his sacrifice for this bridge. What better honor can I give than this?"

Kakashi smiled sadly and nodded. A few moments later, the ninja from Konohagakure were going home.

**  
**

The same day that Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura began heading back from the Wave Country, Naruto was discharged from the hospital. True, he wasn't fully healed – but he was well enough to get from place to place without massive amounts of pain. He made his way home, deciding to wait for the others to return before doing something.

When he reached his house, Naruto sighed as he realized that he had lost his keys.

_Dammit, why'd I actually lock my house when I went to the Wave Country?_ He wondered idly as he took a seat painfully in front of his door.

He would have gone to Iruka's house to see if he could stay there, but he didn't like being a burden on anyone, least of all the one person who actually acknowledged him.

And so he sat there, wondering what he was going to do until Kakashi and them came back, whenever that was.

On the streets below, walking past, was none other than the former sensei that was mentioned a few moments ago. He looked up at Naruto's apartment, out of habit, and was surprised to see the curled up figure of the blonde nin in front of the door. Something wasn't right, Iruka could feel it.

He walked up the stairs, wondering what was the matter with his ex-student.

"Oy, Naruto!" he called as he made it to the hallway.

Naruto looked up at the sound of his name. His blue eyes widened when he saw Iruka standing there.

"What… what are you doing here?" Naruto asked softly.

"I was about to ask you the same question," was Iruka's answer. "Doesn't Team Seven have a mission?"

Naruto nodded after a moment.

"Then why aren't you with them?"

Naruto was silent, though a slightly pained expression came across his face. His last memories was of Sasuke's frantic expression before he had "died." It was painful to think of it, but he couldn't get it out of his head.

Iruka walked closer to the blonde, taking a seat next to him. "Don't want to talk about it?" he asked kindly.

Naruto nodded slightly.

Iruka smiled. "Did you lose your key again?"

Another nod.

"Well, since I don't have a spare with me, why don't you come and stay at my place until your team gets back?" Iruka offered.

"R-really?" Naruto stuttered.

Iruka grinned and nodded. "Come on," he said.

Naruto couldn't help but grin back as he followed Iruka to the small house that Chuunin owned that was nearby the Academy. He had spent some nights here before, when he forgot his key or when he just didn't need to be alone at night.

It was his home away from home.

A day later, the three members of Team Seven stepped through the gates of Konohagakure, finally having returned back from the Wave Country. The trip back was uncomfortable. Sasuke was even colder to Sakura, who was vying even more for his attention and Kakashi was getting a headache from the two of them. They made their way in complete silence towards the hospital.

As soon as they entered, the three nin made their way to the desk. Sasuke and Sakura were more than willing to let Kakashi talk for them.

"May I help you?" the nurse at the desk asked.

"Aa," Kakashi replied. "I left a student of mine here about a week ago, we wished to visit him."

"What's his name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The nurse looked at her records, clicking a few keys on her computer before the record for the boy actually popped up. "Uzumaki Naruto was discharged two days ago."

Kakashi's bored look never left his only visible eye, but behind it he was thinking. The jounin had not forgotten the response the staff of the hospital had given him, despite his reassurances to Sasuke, he was worried about how much care would actually be given to the boy.

"In what condition was he discharged?" the jounin asked.

The nurse looked at him. "You will have to ask the doctor that was in charge of him during his stay."

"And who was the doctor?"

"Dr. Tomikoto," was the flat response.

"Where can I find him?"

"He should be down the hall and to your left."

Kakashi nodded and motioned for Sasuke and Sakura to follow him. He followed the desk nurse's instructions and found himself face to face with a man around his age who had black hair and glasses. The nameplate on the left side of his chest said "Dr. Tomikoto."

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Tomikoto asked.

Kakashi nodded. "A week ago, I left my student here as a patient, supposedly under your charge."

"May I ask his name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The doctor's kind smile twitched until it was a frown. "What do you want to know?" he asked. "I discharged him two days ago – he is no longer under my care."

Kakashi didn't let the man's sharp attitude bother him. "I want to know his condition when you discharged him," he said, not looking away from the doctor's eyes. "Something tells me that he wasn't in perfect health, is that true?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes when he heard this accusation. The hospital had let Naruto go when the dobe wasn't even in perfect condition? Why would they do a thing like that?

Beside him, Sakura had similar questions running through her head, but they were all pointed to the fact that at the moment, Naruto was weak – so she must strike with her unknown revenge soon. That stupid blonde wasn't going to steal Sasuke from her!

The doctor smirked. "He was stable enough," he sneered.

That did it for Sasuke. "Why would you let a citizen of Konoha out of the hospital when they weren't healthy?" he growled.

"That boy is no citizen of Konoha, you brat!" the man snarled back. "He is the Ky-"

The man was unable to finish whatever he was saying as Kakashi leapt forward and grabbed the man by his shoulder, slamming him into the wall, and virtually cutting off his speech.

"You know the laws set down by Yondaime and upheld by Sandaime," he said in a low voice, eye losing its bored look as it glared at the man. "Do you not respect those laws?"

The doctor sputtered but he nodded. "I respect them," he murmured softly.

Kakashi dropped him. "Then it would be wise of you to remember that the younger generation _is not to know!_" he explained.

The doctor only nodded.

"Come, Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi said, regaining his bored look as he strode out of the hospital.

Once they were free of the constricting halls that smelled of medicine, Sasuke turned to Kakashi.

"What did Tomikoto mean?" he asked his sensei.

"I cannot tell you that – only Naruto can, and only if he wants to," was the response of his teacher. "However, I think it would be best if we do not tell Naruto of what happened here."

Sasuke and Sakura nodded. But inside, Sakura was thinking differently. She had finally devised the perfect revenge against Naruto.

**  
**


	3. Everybody's Fool

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 03: Everybody's Fool**

Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura (who by this point was just following to keep up appearances) made their way as quickly as possible to Naruto's apartment. When they got there, it unnerved the Uchiha that none of the lights were on and the door was locked. He knocked on it.

"Oy! Dobe!" he called angrily, kicking the door without realizing it. "Open the damn door!"

When five minutes passed without Naruto coming to the door and yelling at them for interrupting whatever they would have been interrupting, Sasuke began to get more worried.

Kakashi, although concerned, listened to what his gut was telling him. Currently, his instincts pointed to the fact that Naruto was safe – wherever he was. However, he still wanted to make sure that the boy was okay – with his own eyes.

"Let's split up and look for him," Kakashi suggested after Sasuke went ballistic on the door. "It's obvious that Naruto isn't here right now."

Sasuke and Sakura both nodded in agreement. The three split up the village. Kakashi was to search the marketplace, Sasuke the training fields and Sakura – well, everywhere else. The three split up, each hoping to be the first to encounter Naruto – for their own reasons, of course.

Sasuke shot over the rooftops until he came to the training grounds. They were extensive, but Sasuke knew that he would be able to search them quickly. Closing his eyes and summoning his chakra around him, he gave a cry of "Bunshin no Jutsu!" as two clones of him appeared on either side.

"Search the training grounds – see if you can locate Naruto!" the original barked before heading off in one direction. The other two wasted no time before branching off into two different directions so that the three could cover more distance.

The original Sasuke was looking all around him. His neck hurt from craning it in all sorts of directions in his panicked search for his blonde teammate.

Where could Naruto be?

He wasn't at the hospital.

He wasn't at his apartment.

So where did that leave for the dobe to go?

Sasuke mentally cursed himself for the lack of knowledge he possessed about the blonde's habits and the places that Naruto liked. Such knowledge, which Sasuke would normally pass off as stupid, would be of great help at the present moment.

Knowing that Naruto liked to train – no matter what his current condition – had gotten Sasuke to offer to take the training grounds. He was positive that Naruto had at least been here lately, if not trained.

So, Sasuke searched every nook and cranny of his third of the training grounds, knowing that his doppelgangers would be doing the exact same thing in their respective parts.

Yet, when he and his two replications met up, all three had come up with nothing.

Naruto wasn't here.

And that only made Sasuke worry more.

He quickly released the chakra on the other two, which made them disappear in a faint "poof" of smoke. Thinking about what he knew about the blonde, Sasuke jumped out of the training fields and made his way towards town.

He would flip over every damn rock in Konohagakure just to see if his blonde rival was hiding beneath it.

Kakashi, as he had said, was looking around the marketplace. He felt relief soar through him when he saw Iruka. Surely, Naruto's former sensei would know where the blonde would be. After all – Iruka was like Naruto's big brother.

"Yo!" he said with a grin, appearing in front of Iruka with a poof. Iruka nearly dropped his groceries in surprise at the silver-haired jounin poofing in front of him.

Suddenly, the brown-haired chunin's gaze hardened. "We need to talk," he growled out, giving no proper proceedings to respect of a Jounin because he was only a Chuunin. His brotherly instincts were kicking in. He wanted to know exactly what had happened on the mission.

Kakashi noticed the serious look that the Chuunin had and nodded. "Where?" was all he asked as he dropped his normal happy-pervert act.

Iruka led the Jounin to a small café where the two would be given their privacy so that no one would be disturbing them. Fancying it to be a long conversation, judging by how much Iruka was glaring at him, Kakashi encouraged the Chunin to get some tea.

So Iruka did.

After the tea had been give to him by the waitress, Iruka looked at Kakashi, his finger tracing the rim of the cup absently.

"You go first," he said.

"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked, wanting to know whether the Chuunin had seen his former student or not.

"Naruto's been staying at my house, because he locked his apartment and lost the key. My spare to his apartment seems to be missing as well – and I don't want to leave him alone in his current predicament."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked. His lazy look that had stayed with his eye vanished slowly, showing that Iruka had his almost-full attention. After all, a ninja must always be aware of their surroundings, so they can only focus so much on one thing.

Iruka stared at him, and then, instead of answering, took a sip of tea. He set his cup down with a faint _clink_, and then folded his fingers together, lightly resting his chin on them. It was a pose that he had picked up from none other than Uchiha Sasuke, who had always been sitting like this.

He had learned that it helped one to concentrate.

"Before I answer any more of your questions – I have a few of my own," he snapped angrily. Naruto hadn't told him what had happened yet – but even without the boy saying anything, Iruka had known him long enough to know that it was serious – whatever it was.

Kakashi nodded, he had been expecting that. And he at least knew that Naruto was safe… if not completely well. At least, that's what Kakashi hoped. Instincts could be wrong occasionally – he hoped this was not one of those cases.

Iruka sighed, thinking about what he wanted to ask first. There was so much that he felt he needed to know about he young friend.

"What happened in the Wave Country?" he asked in a quiet voice, deciding that was the best question. He knew it was a broad question, but he didn't have any specifics to narrow it down with, so it was all he had. As the questioning would continue, surely he would be able to narrow his questions.

As he waited for Kakashi's answer, Iruka's eyes never left the older man's. He was determined to show that Naruto was important to him and he wasn't going to have some lazy excuse for a Jounin prove that wrong.

Kakashi sighed, which was a rare sound for the "laid-back Jounin." He normally never sighed, but ever since he had passed Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, he had been sighing a lot. He knew this, but he really didn't care to stop it. Sighing just seemed so right when dealing with the clashes between those three. He smiled to himself. It was fun to watch how they all got along, as they generally did – though all three would deny it. It was a strong team, albeit loud and moody.

"Fine," Kakashi said, a crisp tone entering his voice. He really didn't know the complete story himself, but Iruka did help him out by taking care of Naruto, so he owed the Chuunin one – not that he was going to admit that. He was just going to answer the question. "In the Wave Country, we encountered two S class criminal nin."

"S-class?" Iruka gasped out.

Kakashi nodded gravely. "Momochi Zabuza and his little sidekick, Haku. While Sakura kept Tazuna safely out of the way, I took on Zabuza. Naruto and Sasuke took on Haku – who was more advanced than he first seemed. Like Sasuke, he holds a bloodline limit. Something to do with ice, or at least, that's what Zabuza kept saying. I didn't see what happened between the three boys."

He paused. Should he really continue? The overprotectiven look and care that showed in Iruka's brown eyes convinced him that he should.

"When my fight finally stopped – and so did theirs, I made my way over to where they had been fighting. Haku was dead, with a kunai through his chest. Sasuke was puking his guts out over the side of the bridge, makes me think he was the one that killed Haku. Naruto was impaled with hundreds of senbon – when I checked his vitals, he was dead. There was no question about it. Uzumaki Naruto had died."

Iruka's eyes widened at the news. Sure, he expected something bad… but… dead? Then how was the blonde currently living at his apartment? How was Naruto able to return? What was going on here?

Seeing the confusion that had settled itself onto Iruka's expression, Kakashi continued. "As soon as I had just proclaimed him dead, the body spasmed. Four times, to be exact. And then he was alive again – but it hadn't come without side effects." Kakashi trailed off, thinking about what he had come to know about the blonde in the short time he had known Naruto.

"Was it… _him_?" Iruka implied by stressing out the last word of his question.

Kakashi stared at him, but Iruka stared back nonchalantly. The Jounin had to admit that his students' former teacher had guts. Everyone thought he was the blushing, girly type of man – but he wasn't, at least not according to Kakashi. And Kakashi was a pretty good judge of character.

"I have no doubts," he murmured.

Iruka stared at him in horror for a few moments before sipping his tea, a habit he used when he was thinking.

"What do you mean by side effects?" Iruka ventured, wanting to know as much as possibly. He looked out for Naruto, after all, so it was best if he knew all that transpired with the boy that could be dangerous.

"My guess is _his_ chakra is low… which before now was thought to be impossible," Kakashi whispered to the Chuunin. He didn't want anyone to overhear what they were speaking of. "The wounds weren't healing like they used to."

Iruka started. Now that he thought about it, Naruto always seemed without injury – which was a complete one-eighty to what he was like right now. Sure, some of the wounds had healed, but a lot of them still bled daily. He cared for his younger-brother-like figure as best as he could, but Iruka was away most of the time, at the Academy where he taught.

He couldn't always be there for his former student, like he should be, but he wanted to be – despite his obligations. That was how much Iruka cared for the boy. And this new information was disturbing.

Yet he knew that despite the pain of all the physical injuries, that wasn't what made Naruto so quiet lately. He was feeling down because of some emotional and mental wounds that Iruka could not heal, despite his attempts to.

Iruka stood, paying for his tea. He thanked Kakashi quickly and was about to turn and leave before Kakashi stopped him.

"Iruka… where is Naruto right now?" he wanted to know.

Iruka smiled. "Everywhere and nowhere," he mumbled. "Naruto likes to wander around this time of day – at least while he's waiting for you, Sasuke and Sakura to return… I really don't know where he could be. He always turns up back at my house around dusk, so you can check then for him. I have to go, though. These groceries will spoil if I don't get them to my house soon." He smiled at the silver-haired ninja before exiting the café with his bag of food.

Sakura looked around her. Unlike Sasuke and Kakashi, the pink-haired kunoichi didn't want to find Naruto to see if he was okay. She actually hoped he wasn't. It would make her job a lot easier.

And she had the perfect method of revenge in her mind.

She would not hit him physically… he was easily stronger than her and she knew that if it came to a fist fight, she wouldn't win. Not because she wouldn't be able to hold her own, but because Naruto had extreme stamina that Sakura could only dream of getting.

She planned to injure him emotionally – mentally. Leave a scar that will never heal. That's what emotional wounds were. They were the same things as physical, except sometimes they never healed. Even if they did, you wouldn't forget the hurt that you had gone through. You would have nightmares reminding you of that time and thoughts while you lay awake, wondering why you couldn't sleep, of that time.

It was an eternal pain.

She saw the tuff of blonde hair as she was jumping from one rooftop to a tree in the park. Looking down, she saw Naruto sitting against the tree she was perched in. Looking at his downcast face and the shaking form of his body, Sakura almost regretted what she was about to do.

Almost.

But she knew that she had to continue through with her plan. She knew that she had to get Naruto out of the way. If she didn't… then Sasuke… Sasuke wouldn't be hers any longer. She didn't know nor did she understand the relationship between the two rivals on her team, but she didn't want it destroying her chances with the Uchiha prodigy.

She _couldn't_ let it destroy her chances with the Uchiha heir.

With that in mind, Sakura jumped down in front of Naruto, looking at him as though she were concerned. She reached out and placed a hand on his forearm.

"Naruto?" she said softly, her voice dripping with worry.

"Go 'way," the blonde growled, not even raising his eyes.

"Naruto… what's wrong?"

"Nothing, all right? Now leave me the hell alone!"

Sakura didn't let it get to her that Naruto was obvious in male-PMS mode. She allowed her lower lip to tremble. "Is it about something that happened at the hospital?" she wanted to know.

Naruto stared at her, as though seeing her for the first time. How did she know what had happened at the hospital?

"What do you mean?" he asked, gruffly. "What do you know?"

Inner Sakura grinned screaming _"HELL YEAH! We're getting somewhere"_ as Sakura thought over how to respond.

"Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei and I went to the hospital to check up on you," she began truthfully, though she weaved her fabric of lies in well after the first sentence. "Of course, Sasuke really didn't want to go. And Kakashi was probably just going 'cause you're his student and all. I went because I really wanted to see how you were!" She made her voice get a little cracked, as though she were saying something and trying desperately not to cry.

"There was this really mean doctor there. He said he was the doctor in charge of you. And he kept calling you all of these names. Like monster." Naruto flinched unintentionally. He hated it when people called him monster, or anything else. Sakura noticed the reaction and decided to be more descriptive. Naruto only heard bits and pieces of her speech as his head began to spin with wonder.

"- not a citizen of Konohagakure. –"

He began to shake even more than he had been earlier.

"-hurt your friends-"

Naruto glanced from side to side, his eyes wide and fearful. He didn't hear much of what Sakura was saying, didn't even acknowledge her existence.

"-Sasuke laughed-"

One couldn't be sure if the voices that Naruto was hearing were Sakura or memories… memories he tried so hard to forget.

"-Kakashi kept reading his book-"

But these were the memories that couldn't be forgotten.

"-they didn't care! They don't care-"

Ever.

Sakura grinned when she saw what Naruto was doing. The blonde was currently curled up, hugging his knees tightly to his chest as he looked around, panicked beyond anything Sakura even expected.

_Stage One Complete_, she told herself with a sly grin before standing up and leaving Naruto where he was.

Naruto stared around, not realizing that his tormentor had left him. He didn't really see anything. Just endless blurs of color that boxed him inside, making him have to curl up because he didn't have enough space to straighten his limbs.

His stomach rolled, making him feel sick, as his head spun without stop. Without the strength to fight these things, Naruto fell on his face from his sitting position, feeling the cold grass against his hot forehead. He would do anything to be an ice cube at the moment – at least then he would feel like he had just been scalded by a ten-foot-flame.

He managed to pull himself up to his knees before his stomach churned once more and he found himself throwing up a mixture of vomit and blood on the cool grass that had saved him seconds before.

Not able to keep control of himself any longer, Naruto fainted, luckily missing the puddle of vomit that lay nearby.

Sasuke, as he walked down the street towards his apartment. He decided to take a shortcut through the park, mainly because he really didn't feel like having anything but a nice cup of tea and falling into his soft bed.

The Uchiha prodigy was walking down the serene forest path, casually humming to himself. When he was alone, his guard wasn't up. When he was alone, everything turned out okay.

He stopped humming as the events of the day ran through his head. First the three came home, to find Naruto missing from the hospital. On top of that, he was discharged from said hospital in nearly unstable condition.

Second, the three had searched everywhere, trying to find their lost teammate. When they met up at the end of the day, Kakashi told him and Sakura what he had learned from Iruka. Sakura was acting suspicious during the entire reporting session. It unnerved Sasuke for some reason, even if he didn't know what that reason was.

Sasuke glanced at the clock as he passed by one of the dinner carts that stayed in the park all day.

It was five-thirty, dusk was falling quickly.

If what Kakashi said was true, then Naruto would be returning to Iruka's right about now, happy as could be and would be told that they had returned.

Yes, that was what would be happening right about now.

So why was his gut telling him different?

Sasuke shook his head as he continued along the designated path that would lead him to his apartment. He shouldn't be worrying about that dobe. Nope, Sasuke didn't give a hoot's ass for the blonde genin. Nope, not at all.

At least, that was what he was currently telling himself.

A sight, only about ten feet in front of him, made him change his mind.

There lay Naruto, a puddle of blood and vomit next to him, with traces of the substance on his chin. The blonde's eyes were shut, but his face was pale and gaunt. The boy was shaking slightly, and Sasuke thought he heard whimpers from the form, but wasn't entirely sure, due to how soft they were.

Sasuke walked closer to the other boy, his mask and walls back up. He swore to himself that he wasn't going to be as emotional as he was back in the Wave Country and he damn well wasn't going to let Naruto of all people see it!

"Dobe!" he yelled, hoping that the boy would spring out of his what-appeared-to-be-sleeping state and yell at Sasuke. Just so then Sasuke would be sure that the blonde was okay and he could continue home with no worries.

Naruto didn't stir. Not even in the least. Or rather, didn't stir other than the constant shaking that had overcome his body.

Sasuke glared at the form. He nudged Naruto with his toe. Is he dead? His mind asked him. Not that Sasuke had voices or anything like that, but one does ask oneself questions… and then answer them.

For Sasuke, the answer was a memory. One that had happened not to long ago.

_Naruto's smile became a little brighter as his eyelids drooped._

"_No!" Sasuke found himself muttering. "Don't close your eyes, dobe… come on, Naruto! Open up your eyes! Open your fucking eyes!"_

_Sasuke didn't know what he was saying, didn't care. He only wanted his teammate to open his eyes and yell that it was all some shitty prank. That was Naruto. That was the Naruto that Sasuke had come to know and accept as a rival. That was the Naruto that showed everyone his strengths, his determination and his dreams. That was the Naruto who one day would become Hokage. _

_So who was this? _

_Were there two Narutos? _

_This one was dying. _

_Naruto… die?_

_The thought had never really appeared before Sasuke before. After all, they were only twelve and Naruto… Naruto didn't deserve to die. _

_He was innocent and bright, like the Sun that shone down thousands of miles away. Except, though not even he knew it, Naruto was his special sunshine. _

_And so the Uchiha continued to yell at the boy he cradled in his arms. The heavenly blue eyes – so much like the summer sky on a cloudless day – dimmed as they began to close, yet behind the hazy outside of the eyes burned an eternal flame. He wasn't dying, he was just… just going on a trip. _

_It was a childish thought, even Sasuke had to admit that, but it didn't stop him from thinking it. _

"_Thank you," Naruto whispered, the smile never leaving his face as his eyelids slid shut on their own accord._

_Thank you? Sasuke wondered as soon as he heard it. What did Sasuke have to be thanked for? He was here, Naruto was dying, and Sasuke was powerless to do anything. Dammit, it should have been Sasuke who had died, like it was intended to be – not Naruto. _

_Thank you. _

_The words echoed dimly through Sasuke's mind as he checked the vital signs of his rival, teammate – friend! Naruto was his friend. _

_Yet that was one fact that Sasuke realized too late. _

Sasuke paled even more than his natural skin tone. It made him look like a fleshless corpse. He shook his head, ridding the memories of that day from behind his eyelids. He didn't need to remember. Not now.

Not when he finally promised to be over it.

He couldn't return to that emotional wreck he had been for the past week.

He had to have better control over himself.

He was Uchiha Sasuke, for crying out loud.

_That's right_, Sasuke thought to himself. _I am Uchiha Sasuke, the avenger. Nothing else matters except killing Itachi. I must hate, I must not have friends – I must grow to be stronger than Itachi. I have to. _

Slowly, guilt eating away at him with every step, Sasuke walked away, leaving the blonde lying right where he had found him.

He didn't get any sleep that night either.


	4. Haunted

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 04: Haunted**

Iruka looked outside. It was dark out, the stars twinkling above Konoha. Next to him stood Kakashi, who had been here for hours. The silver-haired Jounin had arrived around 4:30 PM, and as Iruka glanced at the clock, he saw that it was close to 10:30 PM right now.

Naruto hadn't returned.

Where was he?

Kakashi let Iruka keep his vigil by the windowsill, thinking it would be best for the Chuunin, rather than talk to Kakashi. Iruka and Kakashi both had stubborn natures and were often butting heads with each other. Being a school teacher, Iruka had to deal with sarcastic comments and the like everyday, so he had no problem snapping back. Kakashi was Kakashi, and that's really all that one can say about him.

However, the Chunnin and the Jounin both had one thing in common at the moment, besides being stubborn. Both were worried about a certain blonde genin who had yet to show up back to Iruka's.

Suddenly, Kakashi stood up. "I'm going to go look for him," the silver-haired ninja said, breaking the tense silence that was in the room. Kakashi couldn't even read Come Come Paradise at the moment, his mind too preoccupied with many different matters. He stood up and walked to the door. "You stay here to see if he comes back. I'll check back here every hour, so that I know whether he's back or not."

Iruka nodded, unable to do anything else before the other nin disappeared through his door, closing it behind him and running off into the night.

Sighing, Iruka turned back to the window as he watched the stars.

_Naruto… where are you?_ He asked the twinkling objects above him, as though they held the key to all the answers that he was seeking.

The stars didn't reply to his plea.

Sasuke lay on his bed, his eyes roaming the dark ceiling. Sleep would not come to him. The past week had been running through his head and he felt really guilty about leaving Naruto in the park.

He could remember conversation with Haku before Naruto had died, whilst both boys were being cut by the needles. Haku had been in his mirrors, but he had spoken to them – as though they were equals, as though they were human. Even though Zabuza preached that ninja were tools, it was obvious that Haku believed differently, but Zabuza meant too much to him for him to actually follow on those thoughts.

_It is difficult for me to become a pure ninja. If it is possible, I do not want to kill you and I do not want to make you kill me. However, if you are going to fight me, I will kill my compassion with a blade and become a ninja. _

_This bridge is a battleground that leads to the dreams of many people. I will fight for my dream. And you will fight for your dream. Please do not hold any grudges. I want to protect an important person. I want to work for him, fight for him, and make his dreams come true. That is my dream. In order to make it come true, I will become a ninja. _

Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to shut out the movie that was playing through his head. However, it was futile, as with closed eyes, the images were clearer, the words louder and the pain more despairing.

_I can't die here. I still have a dream to achieve… to become Hokage and make everyone back home notice me._

The blonde had then stood up, facing the mirror image of Haku with bold determination. Sasuke, even those his own wounds pained him, jumped up to his feet, wondering how Naruto could. The two grinned at each other. They already had a plan.

Naruto would create the Kage Bunshin using that jutsu and Sasuke would, with his ability to get the timing of Haku's movements down, would track the older teen and shoot him with a fireball.

It had worked several times, and had almost worked for the final time, where they would be free of the ice prison, but Haku then got serious. It was as though someone had possessed Haku. He changed. He became the person that Sasuke had killed. Naruto had been hit… protecting _him_. Naruto had "died" protecting _Sasuke_.

Sauske gritted his teeth together and buried his hands in his hair. He wished he could at least hit "pause" on the VCR that was his brain, but it didn't work.

Naruto was hit, all over again, in Sasuke's head. Sasuke stared at the boy in disbelief.

"Why?" Sasuke wondered aloud, whispering his question to the shadows of his room. "Why did he protect me?"

_Guess I repaid my debt._

"There has to be something more to it. There has to be. He's not the type to just sacrifice himself in order to repay a debt. That dobe… why is he making me think of all of this? Why is he doing this to me?"

_Thank you._

Sasuke sat up. He flipped around, sitting on his knees and punched his pillow. "Why?" he growled as his fists continued to pommel his pillow.

Knowing that he needed to walk around to clear his head, Sasuke pulled a pair of pants over his boxers and put on a shirt. He walked outside, making sure to lock his door behind him and shoved his keys into his pocket.

Why was Naruto making him have so many sleepless nights? Sasuke didn't think that he had had a decent night of rest since Naruto and him had reached the top of the trees and stumbled back to Tazuna's house.

Sasuke looked up at the stars as he walked along. It was late, nearly midnight, if his guess was right. Nobody who was sane would be out on a night like this. Seeing Kakashi on a rooftop out of the corner of his eye, he realized that he was right. Nobody sane was out here – Kakashi wasn't sane, and neither was Sasuke himself, so they were out here, wandering in the night.

The Uchiha stopped when he felt a hand tap his shoulder. He looked behind him quickly, eyes narrowing as he slapped the hand off him. His defenses relaxed slightly when he saw that it was just Kakashi.

"What are you doing out here this late?" the Jounin asked.

Sasuke didn't reply, just looked at his teacher. Kakashi sighed.

"What are _you_ doing out?" Sasuke asked as Kakashi fell into step beside him. They walked along until they found a bench. Not caring that technically, it was on private property, the two took a seat.

"I was looking for Naruto, he seems to have disappeared again," Kakashi murmured.

Sasuke was surprised that he didn't get whiplash as he turned his head quickly around to stare at the Jounin. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Isn't he always at Iruka's house around dusk?"

Kakashi nodded. "That's what I was told, but he didn't come back tonight. Do you have any idea where he might be?"

Sasuke, even though he knew where Naruto probably was, shook his head. He didn't need Kakashi yelling at him about leaving Naruto where he had found him hours before. _He_ was already yelling at himself enough for ten people, at least.

Kakashi sighed. "I won't ask about it tonight, but one of these days, I would like to know exactly what happened during the fight with that boy," Kakashi commented as he stood up and walked away.

Sasuke didn't move for several minutes. Of course Kakashi would want to know. He was stupid to even entertain the thought that his instructor would let the topic die. Sasuke buried his face in his hands. How was he going to explain it? How was he going to tell of how Naruto died?

He didn't know.

Slowly, the prodigy picked himself off the bench and made his way down the streets of Konohagakure again, no real destination in mind. Instead of clearing his head, this walk had only brought him more burdens to think about.

But there was one thing that Sasuke knew that he had to do. He needed to find Naruto. He had to know what the boy had meant when he had spoken for what was supposed to be the last time. The words wouldn't stop echoing in Sasuke's head and Sasuke didn't even know why he dwelled on it.

Knowing where he was going, Sasuke lifted his head with a touch of arrogance. He was going to find Naruto, and he wasn't going to rest until he had found the blonde.

That decided, he sped over to the park – the place where he had last seen his teammate.

Sasuke made it to the park as quickly as he could. He ran faster than he thought he was able to at this point of exhaustion until he came onto the spot where he had seen Naruto. The blonde was no longer there, but his blood and vomit still remained. Sasuke stopped, biting his lower lip as he tried to figure out where his teammate had gone.

Well, the question that kept popping up in Sasuke's head was _Where is he wanted?_ There was, of course, Iruka's house, but apparently he wasn't there.

Maybe the blonde meant to never go back. The idea caused Sasuke's eyes to widen as his jaw dropped slightly as he realized what the dobe was doing.

Naruto was running away.

Sasuke, after studying (in the dark, of course) the way the blonde most likely had gone, set off at a quick walk. He stopped here and there to check that he was still on the trail of the genin.

The path through the heavily wooded park led Sasuke to a stream. He saw a bundle of orange curled up next to a tree.

"Naruto?" Sasuke called as he stumbled clumsily over to the figure. Noticing the blonde hair and whiskered cheeks, Sasuke knew that it was Naruto.

Naruto looked away as soon as Sasuke came closer.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Naruto didn't answer, he just hugged his knees tighter to his chest. Why was Sasuke bothering him? It wasn't like the stoic boy actually _cared_ what happened to Naruto. Naruto's mind subconsciously drifted to the burns on his leg. After years of experimenting with self-injury, he found that the only thing that Kyuubi didn't heal was burns. He didn't know why, but the Kyuubi would not heal burns.

Everything else regenerated without so much a scar, but Naruto's thighs and upper arms were marked with the remains of burns. He could feel the dull pain from his newest addition, which was on his lower leg. He was running out of room where people couldn't see what he did, but Sakura's words had affected him more than he would ever admit.

Her words forced him to face the truth. He would never be Hokage. How would the villagers – who despised him – ever actually _respect_ him, as they had for the four Hokages.

He felt Sasuke's hand on his shoulder. The blonde shuddered, unable to stop the cringe that flashed across his features.

Unfortunately for him, Sasuke saw it. Surprise caused the Uchiha to drop his hand. He sat down on the grass next to Naruto, looking at the stream that ran by them. The waters seemed to glow with an ethereal light.

"Naruto… do you remember what happened back at the bridge?" Sasuke began tentatively.

Naruto bit his lip fiercely, making blood trickle down his chin. Of course he remembered. He wish he couldn't… he wish he could've died, thinking that someone actually cared for him instead of having to live with the truth that no one did. They only cared that he was dying because they were happy to see him leave. He didn't know anything to counter the remark that had flown through his head, because deep down, he felt that it was the truth. No one would mourn his death.

No one would care.

Holding his tears at bay, Naruto curled up deeper into himself, not answering Sasuke's question.

Sasuke noticed the fear that showed in Naruto's eyes. Naruto was curling up even more and the Uchiha wouldn't be surprised if the boy cut off circulation to his ankles because of his own embrace.

The blonde never answered Sasuke's question. He didn't know whether that meant "yes" or "no."

The two sat in silence for what seemed to be an eternity. Sasuke was trying to figure out what the other boy's silence meant in reference to his question. His thoughts were interrupted by Naruto's voice, which seemed strained. The boy was fighting not to break, Sasuke realized as he listened to the tone of Naruto's voice.

"Why are you here?" Naruto asked in a whisper. "Why do you act like you care?"

Sasuke was startled by the questions the blonde was asking him. Act? He hadn't been acting when he cursed at Sakura, or when he growled at Kakashi, or when he spent every night looking towards the hospital and wondering if Naruto was okay or not. He didn't act when he had wanted to murder the doctor for releasing Naruto before he was healed. He didn't act when he had searched desperately for hours, just to find a trace of the blonde when he wasn't in his apartment.

"I don't act," was Sasuke's flat reply.

Naruto's eyes shot towards his teammate before focusing back on the banks of the stream. "You don't have to lie," Naruto said softly. "It's not the first time I've been betrayed."

_That boy has suffered much in his life. He harbored a great evil… and yet he still smiles. _

_Happiness is based on sacrifice. There is no such thing as true happiness, only an illusion placed before your eyes._

Sasuke felt raw emotions rip through his being as he heard Naruto's voice saying that he was used to betrayal, accompanied by the memory of Haku's goads. It was only now that Sasuke realized that Haku wanted him to kill him.

_Didn't you know about your friend here? Didn't you know that he's been orphaned since birth – neglected by the very village he tries so diligently to protect, and the very people he calls his friends?_

Naruto looked over at Sasuke, noticing his lack of response. The boy's eyes were wide, as though he were remembering something terrible. Fear, anger, sadness, and most of all – determination – floated through the dark eyes that Naruto felt he could be drawn into. Naruto didn't know what Sasuke was remembering… he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. It seemed too painful. And Naruto had gone through his share of pain without having to carry the burden of others as well.

_He's dead… it is only out of respect for him that I'm revealing to you what his life was like. I seriously doubt you know anything about him. And he's your teammate. Yet I only met him once… and here I stand, knowing more from that one meeting that you have since you've been together._

Sasuke's teeth clicked together as he tried to block out the memories of that fight, of what had happened before it. The lifeless gaze in his teammates eyes sent a chill through Sasuke. He never wanted to see that look again – especially not on Naruto. Naruto was always happy, full of life. To see him… dead… was more than even the "Ice Prince" Uchiha could take.

Especially after finally getting to know him, as a friend, rival and perhaps, even as a brother. Naruto had become like his family… and then, like his family, the blonde had died.

Suddenly, Sasuke snapped himself back to his senses. "I'm sorry," he murmured softly, his voice heavy with sincerity of his words.

Naruto's head shot up and he looked at his teammate with disbelief written on his face. Sasuke was staring back, looking completely serious.

"I…" the blonde began. "I…" His voice trailed off again as he shivered slightly.

"You what?" Sasuke asked softly.

Naruto turned his gaze back to the stream. "I should've stayed dead," he mumbled, barely loud enough for Sasuke to hear him. There was a faint glistening of tears as he didn't look at Sasuke.

"What?" Sasuke wanted to know. He wanted to make sure that he hadn't misheard what Naruto had said.

Speaking louder this time, his voice breaking from the tears that he could no longer hold back, he shouted, "_I wish I had stayed dead!"_

Now it was Sasuke's turn to stare at his teammate in complete surprise and disbelief.

"W-why?" the Uchiha stammered.

Naruto shook his head, trying to muffle the sobs wracking through his body by hiding his face in his arms and curling up tighter. His entire body shook from the sobs that were slowly eating him from within.

"Because," he said, his voice tight, as he tried to hold back his tears enough to make himself coherent. "Because then I wouldn't have to see people who I thought cared show their true colors. I could've been happy dead… I would've actually believed that someone like you could _possibly_ miss someone like me. I was able to be happy during those last moments… because you cared… I was happy… I thought it was okay to die, because I wasn't alone anymore…"

His voice died as he began to cry harder, not able to stop himself.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized what the blonde had just said. Well, that certainly explained the last two words the genin had uttered before falling into blackness. He was thanking Sasuke for caring for him.

Sasuke didn't know what to say, or do. Part of him wanted to hit the dobe for ever thinking that he didn't care, another part wanted to cry with the blonde and still a third wanted to hug him and tell him that he wasn't alone anymore. Sasuke ran a restless hand through his hair, wondering what he should do.

"Heh… it was stupid of me really," Naruto continued as soon as he had gained more control over himself. Sasuke looked at his teammate again. What was Naruto talking about now? Sasuke wondered to himself, but he didn't voice his thoughts.

"To think that I wasn't alone…" Naruto said as he gave a hollow sort of laugh. "To think that people like the great Uchiha Sasuke would actually give a flying fuck for people like the _dobe_ Uzumaki Naruto." He was trying to make his mask fit once more, but for some reason, it wasn't coming back. He only knew that he had to try harder, he had to get the mask on. How could he have been stupid enough to let Sasuke see him without his disguise?

The first rule of the ninja was deception… Naruto followed that one well. But now, something broke – like when Sasuke punched Haku's mask and it fell apart. Naruto's mask broke as he looked at Sasuke.

"I suppose what Sakura-chan said was true…" Naruto said as he stood up, trying to hide his face.

Sasuke stood as well. "What did Sakura say?" he wanted to know.

"Nothing you don't already know!" Naruto tried to sound angry, but he sounded more like he was mourning.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Naruto," Sasuke told him, gripping the boy's shoulders. "Can you at least tell me what you mean?"

Naruto glared, finally gaining back a little bit of his anger that he seemed to have lost moments before.

"When you…" his voice soft, because he couldn't manage anything higher than that. "… went to the fucking hospital… that fucking doctor told you I was a monster… not a citizen of Konoha – and all _you_ did was laugh." The tears fell again, the anger disappearing as Naruto felt as though he had been flung once again into the pits of despair.

Sasuke looked at him, gasping slightly. "_Sakura_ told you that?" he wanted to know. Naruto nodded sullenly. It wasn't like he could go anywhere. Sasuke was pinning him against the tree and Naruto wasn't strong enough in this condition to fight his rival.

Suddenly he felt himself pressed against something soft and warm. He blushed slightly when he realized it was Sasuke.

_Well_, Sasuke thought as he stroked the boy's golden tresses, _guess part number three won this battle._

"Naruto… I don't know why Sakura lied to you, but she did," he whispered slowly.

Naruto didn't respond. When Sasuke checked to see if the blonde dobe was listening to him, he saw that Naruto was asleep.

"Dobe…" he whispered softly before grabbing the boy under the knees with one arm and steadied his head and shoulders under the other, Sasuke began the long trek back to civilization. He felt a blush creep up on his face when he felt Naruto snuggle into his chest.


	5. Hello

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 05: Hello**

Sasuke looked down at the boy in his arms. He didn't know where he would take Naruto for the night. He wanted to take the blonde back to his house, so that they could talk in the morning and Sasuke could be sure that the boy was okay. But Iruka was worried, and if Sasuke kept Iruka worried – Naruto was sure to kill him. He paused at the crossroads – one leading to his house, and the other to Iruka's.

"Sasuke!" somebody called.

The Uchiha inwardly cringed when he heard the voice of Kakashi behind him.

"What do you have there?" the silver-haired Jounin asked him as he moved closer. "Ah, it's Naruto."

Sasuke bit the inside of his lip to keep from blushing and smacking Kakashi, probably dropping Naruto in the process. Instead, he murmured a low "Hn."

"Iruka's house is that way," Kakashi said, pointing down the road opposite the Uchiha mansion.

Sasuke gnawed on his lips for a few more minutes, trying to figure out how he would fix this. "Tell Iruka that Naruto's staying with me for tonight," he just bluntly growled.

Kakashi looked at him, raising his only visible eyebrow. It was unusual for Sasuke to express hidden feelings like this – even if it was only friendship.

"Aah," Kakashi replied softly, knowing that this was somehow important to Sasuke and he got the feeling that the boy wanted to talk with Naruto.

Sasuke gave him a curt nod before walking off in the other direction. Kakashi sighed to himself and went back to the Chuunin's house. He had a feeling that this was not going to be a happy visit. It began to drizzle as he made his way opposite of Sasuke.

Kakashi was right. He had just arrived at the brown-haired ninja's window when Iruka looked at him strangely. It was as though the man could sense that Kakashi was not here to just check in, but for something more important.

"Have you found him?" Iruka asked.

"Yes and no," Kakashi replied with a bored look in his eye.

Iruka stared at him, anger flashing through his eyes as he narrowed them slightly. "Explain," he growled curtly.

Kakashi, if it was probably anyone else, would have yelled at them for not giving him the proper respect, but he understood the situation that this man was in, so he let it slide for now.

"Sasuke found him first and wished for Naruto to go to his house," Kakashi explained. "I saw nothing wrong with it, so I let him."

Iruka's eye twitched. "Sasuke… as in Uchiha Sasuke?" he asked.

Kakashi nodded.

He wasn't prepared for the utterly cold glare that Iruka sent his way.

"Are you insane?" the man wanted to know. He tried to look angry, but Kakashi could pick up hints of laughter and relief in his tone.

"I'd like to think I wasn't," Kakashi answered. "Why?"

Iruka sighed. His eyes left Kakashi, looking towards a photo on one of his walls. "Come here, please," he asked, sounding more tired then anything else. He pushed himself off the chair he had been sitting in and walked towards the photo. Kakashi followed.

It was a picture of Naruto's graduating class. There was everyone, with Iruka, standing there in the color photograph on the benches. Kakashi didn't know most of them, but he could point out his team fairly well.

Sakura was in the first row, smiling innocently at the camera, wearing her normal training outfit.

Naruto was in the last row, who was forced to stand behind those sitting on the bench. He was next to Sasuke. Both were glaring at each other angrily. They didn't even seem to realize that there was a picture being taken, so instead, they only focused on the other.

"Right after this picture was taken, Naruto and Sasuke got into one of the biggest fights that they ever were in," Iruka was saying. Kakashi listened while he stared at another picture, one of Iruka and Naruto outside of Ichiraku ramen. The blonde was jumping on the laughing Iruka.

"Normally, Naruto and Sasuke were fighting, but this time, it took more than me to hold them apart. Naturally, I was elected to grab Naruto – but I had to get Mizuki to get Sasuke." Iruka chuckled softly. "I think that was the first time I've ever seen Sasuke lose his cool. He was pissed at Naruto and was trying to attack him, while Naruto was being normal Naruto and goading him on."

Kakashi nodded, that was normal Naruto, all right.

"I questioned my decision of putting Naruto and Sasuke together on the same team, so I went to the Hokage for his advice," Iruka started talking again, whilst Kakashi looked at another picture. Again, it was of Iruka and Naruto. Only this time, they were on a grassy hill sleeping against a tree. Naruto had fallen asleep on Iruka's thigh, curling up. Iruka's head was drooped forward in his slumber. It looked nice, Kakashi thought to himself.

"Sandaime told me that it was good to put them together," Iruka told Kakashi. "Those two boys are complete opposites in many ways, but there's one thing that they share in common."

Kakashi lifted an eyebrow in a questioning matter, but didn't speak. Iruka turned to him, his eyes no longer angered, but rather they were soft – like melted chocolate.

"Just like I did – they know the pain of returning to an empty home," his words were spoken softly, but to Iruka, they seemed to echo. "Sasuke's parents were killed – and Naruto knows nothing of his own. Both boys have strong potential to become great ninjas, but they also have several things that can pull them down, cut their strings before they fully gain what they need. Hokage wanted me to put them together because the only person to get under Sasuke's skin is Naruto… and the only person the Naruto truly wishes friendship from is Sasuke." Here he paused once again, staring back at the photo. "They share a bond that not even they can explain. Just as they are willing to kill each other, they are also willing to die for each other."

Kakashi looked at the man. "Naruto's already done that once."

"Yes," Iruka agreed. He looked at his "wall of him and Naruto" as he liked to call it. It was just pictures of Naruto, or the times the two of them had together. Naruto had asked him about it a year ago. Iruka just laughed and directed the boy's attention to ramen that was waiting in the kitchen.

As Kakashi turned to leave, Iruka said, "Look out for him, please."

Kakashi stared at him for a moment before saying, "I always look out for my subordinates."

The last line Iruka spoke softly, Kakashi wasn't even sure he had heard it, but it still made him smile.

"He may be your subordinate, but to me, he's a son."

Sasuke looked down at the golden-haired genin. He was sleeping in Sasuke's only bed. After all, there was only one of Sasuke, so why would he need two beds? Most of his stuff had been bloodied in the massacre, so he didn't touch it. Didn't even go near most of it. He only kept to about three of the rooms in the mansion. His room, the kitchen and the living room which (thankfully) had been left untouched by any sign of blood. He left everything else closed off. He hated thinking about _that day_, hated that he couldn't do anything when Itachi had killed his parents.

Sasuke shook his head. He didn't need to think about that right now. He stared back at the blonde that he had tucked in. He promised himself, for unknown reasons, to look over the boy while he slept. It wasn't as though he felt like sleeping anyway. Too many questions were running through the Uchiha's head for him to sleep.

Questions. How he loathed them, but they would never leave him alone. When he was younger, he always questioned things. Tonight, his questions were about Naruto – and about what happened at the bridge. Also, there were questions of what Naruto had said earlier tonight. Just like they did every night, the statements from his memory floated through his mind and he couldn't shut them out. He just let them come. At least he knew Naruto was alive… at least he knew the boy was physically okay. But what was physique of a person when their soul appeared dead? And like every night, Sasuke answered Naruto in his head.

_Guess I repaid my debt._

No… you didn't have a debt. You shouldn't have died. You shouldn't have taken those fucking senbon. You didn't have a debt to repay. You shouldn't have died. Don't die.

_Thank you. _

I still don't get this… I still don't really understand what he was thanking me for. Why would he thank me? I was a fucking asshole to him most of the time? Still am…

_I should've stayed dead._

No you should've lived, I should have died. Me. Those things were aimed at me. We almost beat him… but then you died and I broke.

_I wish I stayed dead!_

Don't say that. Please don't say that. I don't want to hear you say that. You always laugh. You always smile. You can't cry – you can't die! Don't wish for death.

_Because then I wouldn't have to see people who I thought cared show their true colors. I could've been happy dead… I would've actually believed that someone like you could possibly miss someone like me. I was able to be happy during those last moments… because you cared… I was happy… I thought it was okay to die, because I wasn't alone anymore…_

I care… I'm not lying. I don't know why I care, but I care for you.These… are called emotions? I can't recall this emotion. But please… open you eyes! Please tell me what this is I'm feeling. (1)

_Heh… it was stupid of me really…_

No it wasn't… it was right, not stupid. I'm sorry, Naruto, I'm really sorry. It's my fault. If I had… if I had been thinking, I should have known he would've attacked from behind… I should've known… it wasn't stupid…

_To think that I wasn't alone… To think that people like the great Uchiha Sasuke would actually give a flying fuck for people like the dobe Uzumaki Naruto._

I do give a flying fuck for you. I care for you, more than I could ever tell you. More than you will ever know… I care!

_When you… went to the fucking hospital… that fucking doctor told you I was a monster… not a citizen of Konoha – and all you did was laugh!_

No… I didn't laugh… I almost fucking killed him… Kakashi kinda beat me to it though. I don't want you to be a monster – I wouldn't laugh… I wouldn't… I care… I don't know why Sakura told you that, but I _will_ find out. I promise you that.

With that, Sasuke slumped forward onto the edge of the bed, leaning against it while still supported on the floor by his knees, he fell asleep.

The next morning came swiftly to the town of Konohagakure. The sun had risen, falling softly through the windows in every house. Birds sang out their songs as they searched for their breakfasts of worms, berries and such. Squirrels chattered merrily as they hopped from tree to tree, collecting acorns. People slowly awoke and went about their daily business.

In the Uchiha mansion, two boys stayed asleep, even though the morning's rays fell lightly upon their slumbering faces. It gave the room an otherworldly fell, as the golden tresses of one boy glowed in the light. The other boy's dark blue hair seemed darker with the light on it. Neither boy moved in their sleep. It was a beautiful scene that radiated of peace and love.

But slowly, all beautiful things must come to an end.

This one ended when one of the boys – the blonde asleep in the bed, slowly stirred from sleep. After a few shakes and a grown, he sat up in bed, looking through bleary blue eyes that could have contested the color of the sky outside. His eyes quickly came into focus as he realized that he did not recognize his surroundings.

He glanced briefly from side to side, trying to remember what had happened the night before. Why was he here – wherever here was?

His hand tried to grabbed the edge of the blanket so that he could fling it off, but it found a soft feeling instead that was completely unlike the texture of the blankets.

Looking down, Naruto noticed that his hand was buried in someone's hair. Judging from what he could see of the person's face – that someone was Sasuke.

It scared Naruto that he was here – confused him. But what confused him even more was the fact that he didn't want to remove his hand from Sasuke's hair. It was soft… a complete contrast to the boy's personality. Naruto smiled softly as he looked at Sasuke sleeping, his mind blanking on everything that had kept Sasuke awake the night before. He wanted nothing more than to watch the boy sleep.

He looked so peaceful – so happy in a way. His lips curved upwards in a small smile that Naruto had never seen before.

Naruto's head titled to the side. What had made Sasuke the stoic bastard that he was today? When he was asleep – his guard was down, which gave him a childish aura… as though he was trying to hold onto what he once was.

What had changed him?

Naruto didn't know. Didn't even think that he wanted to know. He was happy just being here.

And he didn't know nor care why.

Suddenly, the Uchiha woke up. He didn't open his eyes and still kept up the impression that he was sleeping when he felt someone's hand softly caressing his hair. He suppressed a shiver of pleasure. He liked this feeling – it reminded him of his mother when he was younger. For a second, he briefly entertained the thought, thinking that the last four and a half years of his life had been just a bad dream.

But he knew better than that. Slowly, he opened his eyes, only to have his gaze met by honest blue ones.

As soon as the blonde saw that Sasuke had caught him playing with his hair, the boy blushed and removed his hand.

Sasuke almost winced at the loss of contact, but he managed to stop it. Slowly, he flexed all of his muscles so that he could get up. He hadn't slept in a very comfortable position, he could feel some of his muscles screaming at him when he stood up. Ignoring them, he turned to the blonde, who wasn't smiling as he was when Sasuke had woken up.

Instead, the boy's face held a slight look of fear, though it was masked with what Sasuke could only label as indifference. "What am I doing here?" Naruto wanted to know as soon as he realized that Sasuke wasn't going to kill him for playing with his hair.

"I brought you here last night," Sasuke explained as he went through his dresser. He pulled out a pair of shorts and a black shirt that was devoid of the Uchiha crest. Turning, he handed them to Naruto.

"Here, you can wear these," the black-haired boy told the boy in his normally cold demeanor, having gained control once again of his emotions whilst he slept.

Naruto gripped the clothes in a death grip to his chest as he looked down, gnawing on his lip. Sasuke looked slightly confused at this. He was about to ask what was wrong when Naruto spoke.

"Why?" the boy mumbled. "Why'd you bring me here? You don't care…" His voice broke slightly, but he didn't cry. Sasuke wasn't entirely sure if that was a good or bad thing, but he knew that he had to figure out a way to answer Naruto's question.

The Uchiha smirked. "Dobe," he said, lightly smacking Naruto on the head. He got clothes out for himself and walked out of the room. "You can have the shower when I'm done," his voice called.

Naruto just sat there, and then he smiled to himself – without his mask and nuzzled into Sasuke's shirt.

Maybe the normally stoic boy actually did care. Maybe Naruto was wrong.

_I don't know why Sakura lied to you, but she did_

The events from the night before came flooding back to Naruto's mind and he felt fear grip his heart, clutching it as though it wanted to squeeze it to death. Taking slow breathes, Naruto managed to dislodge the feeling and calmed himself down. He didn't know who to trust anymore…

According to Sasuke, Sakura had lied to him.

According to Sakura, Sasuke had laughed at him.

It didn't make any sense to the poor blonde, but he couldn't get the image of Sasuke in his last moments of "life" out of his head. It was as though it had burned an image on the back of his eyelids and constantly haunted him. He didn't know why it did though.

His thoughts occupied him and he didn't realize when Sasuke came back in, his hair wet from the shower and fully dressed.

"Oy, Naruto," he called.

"H-hai?" Naruto responded, his head snapping up… and connecting to the wall behind him. "Itai!" he shouted, grabbing his head.

He blushed when he heard laughter from the doorway. Sasuke came over and checked his injury.

"Just a bump, get a shower… I'll make some breakfast," he said, helping Naruto to his feet.

"Ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No," Sasuke retorted. "You're going to actually eat something healthy."

Naruto glared, returning a little bit to his old self around Sasuke once again. "Ramen's healthy."

"Sure… if you want to get heartburn," was Sasuke's reply as he made his way out of the room, dragging Naruto with him. He practically shoved Naruto into the bathroom, knowing the boy wouldn't be able to find it on his own.

"Come downstairs when your finished," Sasuke said as he left, closing the door behind him. "Oh, and don't use too much of my shampoo!"

Naruto snickered slightly as he heard the receding footsteps of his teammate.

Ten minutes later, Naruto walked into the kitchen. Sasuke had just finished making some onigiri. Naruto rubbed his nose when he saw the riceballs. Not that he had anything against them but just that for breakfast? Was Sasuke insane?

"Onigiri?" he asked from the doorway.

"No, dobe," Sasuke said back. "This is for my lunch."

"Then what's for breakfast… I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast yesterday," Naruto grumbled as he sat down, holding his stomach and banging his head on the table. He knew that it was partly his fault – but he also blamed Sakura for that one… for making him pass out and then remember all sorts of things, that turned him insane almost.

Sasuke shook his head, grabbing two bowls, spoons, a box of _Fruit Loops_, and milk, setting it on the table.

"Cereal," he told the boy. He grabbed his bowl and the box first, pouring the multi-colored stuff into his bowl before splashing milk on it. When he put the ingredients to his breakfast down, he saw that Naruto was just staring at the box.

"What?" he snapped, slightly agitated. He was _trying_ to be nice to the blonde, who wasn't making it very easy.

"You call _this_ healthy?" Naruto wanted to know.

Sasuke's eye twitched slightly. "It's healthier than ramen," he explained, shoving the red box towards the blonde.

Naruto looked at it for a moment, then sighed and poured some into his bowl. To him, _Fruit Loops_ were not a good breakfast. The only good breakfast out there for the slightly-eccentric blonde would most definitely be ramen, of any flavor.

The two pretty much ate in silence, and didn't speak. Naruto preoccupied himself with reading the back of the _Fruit Loops _box as he noticed the bright colors that stained the cardboard in different shapes. His eyes traced through the maze easily, mainly because he cheated and started at the finish line, but it was all good for him.

After they were finished, Naruto didn't know what to do. He had been thinking about turning up at the bridge – but it was much too early for that. It was only, after all, about seven in the morning. They had another two hours before they were supposed to meet Kakashi and another three after that before the Jounin actually showed up.

Naruto didn't know what to do, basically, as he sat at the table, looking around the kitchen that was Sasuke's.

"Sasuke…" he mumbled, folding his arms and resting his chin on them.

The Uchiha, who was working at the sink, turned around.

"Hn?" he inquired in his own stoic manner.

Naruto normally would've been pissed off, but he felt drained once more. Even though, little by little, he was coming back to his old self – and able to once again fit inside his costume, wearing the mask he had constructed, there was still a long way to go before he would be completely healthy again. Mentally, at least.

"I… still don't understand why I'm here…" the blonde murmured softly, as though he wished that Sasuke couldn't hear him, even though the comment was directed at the pale boy.

"I wanted to ask you something," came the Uchiha's response. _No time like the present, right?_ Sasuke asked himself as he dropped his sponge, washed the soap off his hands and walked over to the table. He sat down in the seat directly across from Naruto, looking at the blonde genin intensely, as though to say 'you're not getting away from me this time, Naruto'.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, though he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. Something told him that he didn't want to answer what Sasuke was going to ask him. He really didn't want to know, but he knew from the look on Sasuke's face that the boy wasn't going to let him go without a fight – one which the Uchiha could probably win with Naruto's state being weakened as it was.

Sasuke looked directly at the boy's bright blue eyes. Naruto, becoming uncomfortable with having to strain his eyes looking up, finally sat back in his chair, staring somewhat on eye level with Sasuke.

"Why?" Sasuke wanted to know.

Naruto knew exactly what he was talking about, but he wanted to play dumb. He didn't want to answer that question. "Why what, Sasuke?" he asked.

Sasuke glared at him, narrowing his eyes threateningly. Naruto scowled back, not knowing what else to do.

"Why did you jump in front of the senbon?" Sasuke asked the entire question.

Naruto looked at him. He had known this was what the question was, but he still had hoped that it wasn't.

As Naruto tried to think around and make the entire thing seem a joke or something that he probably would have done if he was feeling up to wearing his mask, he realized that it wouldn't be fair to Sasuke. If it had been Sasuke that had jumped, he would be asking the same question and he would want Sasuke to answer it truthfully, instead of lying or dodging around the subject.

Slowly he took a deep breath, casting his eyes downwards. "Because," he began, not knowing how else he was going to start. "If you had died… then I don't know – I would probably loose control and kill everyone." His hand touched the seal on his stomach unconsciously. Sasuke noticed that he was clutching his belly, but he didn't know why. He figured it was a Naruto-only-knows-why habit, anyway.

"You had your dreams to accomplish – and you've worked your ass off for them," Naruto continued, still not meeting Sasuke's eyes, or even looking in the general direction of the Uchiha. "I didn't want you to lose the-"

He was cut off by the Uchiha jumping to his feet, slamming a fist on the table in the process. Surprised, Naruto tumbled backwards, falling off the chair.

"You had dreams to!" Sasuke yelled, unable to contain himself.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke from the floor. His blue gaze met Sasuke's black one. He shivered unintentionally at the anger that was crossing Sasuke's eyes at the moment. It was scary, to say the least.

His next sentence was said in such a low voice that Naruto was sure Sasuke hadn't heard him. "No one would give a fuck if I'd die," he mumbled. "You're actually important to this town though… so I figured that the villagers should get what they want – which is an Uchiha, rather than an Uzumaki."

_Especially me_, he thought to himself. _Because of Kyuubi. They hate me. All of them do. Only Iruka feels different. Everyone…_

Naruto didn't look up, intent on focusing on the tiles to the floor. In a way, it was a lucky thing that he didn't. Sasuke's anger was making his Sharingan glow and the wheels spin harshly.

"Why do you think like that?" the Uchiha asked him. "Do you have any proof that the villagers don't want you in the town?"

Naruto gave a cold sort of laugh. "Yeah, actually I do," he said, not really caring anymore. His mind was foggy, dazed from his teammate's reaction to the others' treatment of him.

"Prove it to me then," the black-haired genin challenged him.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, fear showing in his eyes and face.

"You really want me to?" he whispered.

"Yes."

"You won't call me a monster or… or anything like that?"

"No."

Naruto gnawed at his lip, trying to figure out if this was the best decision for him to make. Slowly, he began to take off the shirt that Sasuke had lent him. The seal didn't appear, but he knew how to make it appear.

While Naruto and Sasuke were having their breakfast, Sakura had decided that she would go and visit her beloved Sasuke. She had made it to his house, and even raised her fist to knock when she heard the voice of none other than Naruto in the house. Curious, the pink-haired kunoichi masked her Chakra as best she could, which was pretty well considering the level of her Chakra control. She crept around the house until she got to a window. She got into a position where she could see in but they could not see here if they were actually focusing on strangers in the vicinity.

Inside the kitchen, Naruto was currently taking off his shirt, which confused Sakura. She could only see what was going on, and she could make out some phrases when the boy's raised their voices, but it wasn't anything that was really important for her to know.

That is until Naruto grabbed a fork that was left on the table and stabbed it into his arm, raking it back to his elbow. He threw the fork back on the table, defiantly staring at Sasuke, who was looking at him in nothing less than complete surprise.

The blood flowed freely but after a second, the wounds began to heal themselves. A black seal on the boy's stomach began to show clearly as Chakra illuminated it against his skin.

"This is why the entire fucking town hates me!" Naruto growled angrily.

Sasuke's eyes widened, but he didn't know what the seal meant. He didn't know what Naruto was hinting at.

Naruto glowered at him, his blue eyes slowly turning crimson. Sasuke remembered that happening once before.

Naruto's eyes had changed colors during the battle with Haku… though he hadn't thought much of it then, because it had been brief and it wasn't like Sasuke had the time to stare into Naruto's eyes during the battle with Haku.

"What do you mean?" the Uchiha asked slowly, seriously confused about this entire matter.

In a voice that sounded inbetween a low growl and Naruto's voice, the fox-boy standing in front of him smirked. "I'm the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

_Kyuubi-kun's Korner!_

_This is shamelessly ripped from Immortal Rain by Kaori Ozaki. Sorry people… I wish I could have said something like this back in the first chapter, but I didn't… cuz I hadn't thought of it… but I felt like it now. I love that quote… as well as that manga…_


	6. Imaginary

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 06: Imaginary**

"I'm the Kyuubi no Kitsune!" Naruto yelled as the blood dripped off his forearm. Strangely, the cuts weren't healing, but they weren't deep enough to hit a vein, so it wasn't like he would die of extensive blood loss. Faint, perhaps, but die? No. His breathing was harsh, ragged ripping from his throat at the pain that was slowly numbing his arm. His mind was fogged up, as his impulsive action was finally catching up to his brain.

Sasuke stared at the blonde, his eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape in a sort of dazed wonder. He didn't ask Naruto to repeat it, for the blonde genin had screamed it at the top of his lungs. Instead, his mind was wandering around in a fog. It was trying to accept his friend – or rather, this new information about his teammate.

Naruto paled when his detached brain finally realize what he had done. He revealed his biggest secret to none other than _Sasuke_! Sure, Sasuke had been nice to him and Naruto found he even had enjoyed the normally stoic boy's presence, but that was no excuse for what he had shown the other.

His emotionless sky-blue eyes looked up at Sasuke. The expression on Sasuke's face was as plain as anything.

Fear.

Hate.

_Even Sasuke can't accept a demon!_ Naruto's mind sneered at him. The blonde shivered slightly. Without waiting for anything to happen, Naruto knew he had to run.

So he did.

Without putting his shirt back on, Naruto jetted out of the back door.

Sakura, was still outside, had taken in the surprise of her teammate's identity quickly. The logical part of her mind had counted the times when Naruto's stamina had outlasted even Kakashi's at times and there was the general hatred by the villagers of him. Her lip curled into a feral snarl as she watched the retreating ninja.

She had the perfect plan for Part Two of her self-appointed mission.

Taking a last look at Sasuke, who was still trying to regain his bearings on the situation, Sakura vanished after Naruto.

It took Sakura a good fifteen minutes to track Naruto, as he was trying to run far and he was fast. She finally saw him deep in the surrounding forests of Konoha. A devilish idea running through her head, she let her hands do the familiar seals a good distance away. A puff of smoke appeared.

In Sakura's place was none other than Sasuke.

The fake Sasuke made his way towards the blonde, who was sitting by a tree, muttering to himself.

_You fucking fox, why aren't you fixing my fucking cuts! _Naruto screamed in his head. A light growl was his answer, but somehow he could translate it.

**I still need to regain all of my Chakra, kit**, the fox was telling him. Naruto swore vividly before grumbling aloud about stupid fox demons and their inability to helping their reluctant hosts.

His head snapped up when his senses told him someone was nearby. "Who the fuck is out there?" he yelled, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to fall.

Out of the shadows emerged none other than Sasuke. Naruto narrowed his eyes, suspicious. He didn't know why – but then he remembered the look on the other boy's face.

Sasuke walked until he was about ten feet from the fox-boy.

The Uchiha let out a small chuckle. "Well, now I understand everything, dobe," the voice was cold and merciless.

Naruto stayed silent, thinking over what the boy was saying, but he was puzzled, as it didn't click in his head.

"You're just a fucking monster after all," Sasuke continued. "Just like everyone said. I thought that maybe they could be wrong, but why would hoards of people have to lie."

Naruto's sweaty bangs flopped into his eyes, his forehead protector moving to his neck. He wasn't crying, surprisingly. He had revealed his most guarded secret to the one person he thought wouldn't care and yet here was that person – betraying him like everyone else did. Even when he promised not to.

_I guess no one could ever give a fuck for a monster_, the blonde told himself. He stood up, rage coursing through him like he had never known.

His bloodied arm flew out, punching through the tree that he had just been leaning against.

"Go the fuck away, Uchiha," Naruto growled in his throat, his voice sounding more like Kyuubi's then his own. Naruto began to slowly walk in the direction away from town.

"Where are you going?" the boy behind him yelled out.

"Away from this fucking village," Naruto snarled. He looked over his shoulder with a red eye. _Gotta get away from him before Kyuubi breaks loose… I can feel him pushing against his bonds… _Naruto thought.

Naruto continued on his trek, leaving Sasuke standing behind him.

As soon as Naruto was out of sight, Sasuke turned back into her original form of Sakura and smirked.

Part Two, complete.

The real Sasuke, back at his house, had finally snapped out of his gaze. He looked around, only to realize that he had stood motionless for about twenty minutes and Naruto was long gone, by the looks of it. He looked out his window, noticing something in the lower lefthand corner.

Moving closer to it, he noticed a few pink strands of hair and his eyes widened. It took less than a second for Sasuke to know what had happened.

Sakura had gone after Naruto… and god knows what that bitch would do to the boy – especially in this state. Sasuke only hoped that he could clear up the emotions that were likely to take over his… friend.

His tracking, as he was better at it than Sakura, only took him ten minutes until he caught up with the girl in the woods. He sighed with somewhat relief, looking at her. Then he noticed the blasted tree behind her.

"Where's Naruto?" he asked coldly.

"Gone," his pink-haired teammate said in a singsong voice. "Naruto is gone and he won't be coming back."

Sasuke wanted to grab her and throttle her, choking her, but he knew that Naruto must be in a pretty weak emotional and mental state if he wasn't coming back to the village.

"Which way?" he growled, his voice becoming lower with his anger, gaining an even colder edge than normal.

Sakura stared at him defiantly, before her defenses cracked and she pointed in the direction that Naruto had gone.

The real Uchiha had only traveled a little way before finally coming across the blond. The boy was huddled at the entrance to a cave. Sasuke could only see his back, but he saw that his left arm was caked with fresh and dried blood. It almost made Sasuke nauseous, as he vaguely remembered the feeling of his kunai entering Haku's chest and the blood that had splurted out because of his attack.

Shaking his head, he walked closer to the boy. When he got within ten feet of the blonde, he noticed the boy was playing with two little fox kits and he stopped, content with looking at the blond.

The morning sunshine that made it through the treetops lit up the genin's hair as though it were a golden halo around his face, which was smiling genuinely as his hands ruffled the fur and played with the kits at his feet. The kits followed his hands, trying to nip at them but were failing against the fast hands of the blonde nin.

Suddenly, the mother fox came out of the cave. Ears laid back and teeth bared, Sasuke thought she was going to go after the blonde, but instead, she turned her dark golden eyes to him, and crouched, ready to spring.

Naruto turned around. His happy expression changed to one of cold hatred when he saw who it was. This confused Sasuke. Yeah, he could understand if Naruto was pissed because he had stood in La La Land for twenty minutes, but this seemed a bit extreme for that.

Naruto slowly growled something to the fox mother. The mother looked at him and straightened herself. Her ears were still flat against her head as she ushered her young back into their cave. As Naruto stood up, the fox returned, snarling at Sasuke.

"What do you want?" the blonde genin snarled. "Didn't you already say enough before?"

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, wondering if the boy was okay, because he honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

Naruto's glare, if possible, darkened. "I have nothing to say to you," he said in cold, flat void devoid of all emotion.

Sasuke winced when he heard that voice, though he wasn't entirely sure why. "Why not?" he snapped back at the angered fox-boy. He didn't like not being listened to. He didn't like having to worry about people.

He wasn't allowed to care.

So why was he here?

Sasuke didn't know, but he also really didn't care at the moment.

Everything would be fine once they returned to their normal lives. Sasuke didn't want to leave Naruto out here. The boy had to come back with him. He didn't know how he was going to do it. He didn't know how he was going to convince Naruto to come home, but he vowed to himself that he would.

"What did I do?" he shouted, keeping a weary eye on the fox that was inching closer, though still seemed to be heeding to Naruto's orders.

"_What did you do?"_ Naruto spat. "So you think that you can just fucking insult me and then walk off as though nothing happened? I'm sick of living a lie, Uchiha! I'm sick of being betrayed. I'm not going back!"

"Why aren't you going back, dobe?" Sasuke asked. "All right, humor me – what did I call you?"

"You broke your promise, you asshole!" Naruto screamed, frustration worming its way through his body and coming out on his voice. "You called me a fucking _monster_, even after promising not to! 'An Uchiha always stands with his word'? That's fucking bullshit!"

It only took Sasuke a moment to realize what had happened. Sakura had obviously disguised herself as him… and forced Naruto out of town with hatred. Sasuke sighed. He couldn't blame Naruto. After all, he would feel like shit if that had happened to him too… so it was completely understandable.

He didn't have time to think anymore, when Naruto's fist slammed into his jaw, making him spit out blood. Sasuke stumbled back, but he didn't attack back. Instead, he regained his balance, subconsciously, and wiped the blood from his chin.

"Naruto, let me explain something," Sasuke began before the boy sprang at him again. This time, Sasuke was able to dodge. While he backed away from the blonde's attacks, he began to speak again. "Naruto –" Jump onto a tree branch. "That wasn't me back there." Backflip. "That was Sakura."

The blonde's attacks stopped when he heard that. His blue eyes narrowed. The fox mother had backed up so that she was shielding her cubs, though she was still baring her teeth in Sasuke's general direction.

"LIAR!" Naruto screamed. His eyes were full of anger and even though that hadn't turned red yet, Sasuke noticed that the pupils of his eyes were becoming thinner, as a cat's were. He found himself unable to look into the blonde's eyes comfortably.

"I'm not lying, dobe," Sasuke called as he dodged yet another fist thrown his way. "Sakura did it! I'll prove it to you!"

"How?" the blonde wanted to know. He backflipped so that he was far enough away from Sasuke that he wouldn't get angry, though he didn't stand from the crouch he had landed in.

"I'll talk to Sakura, while you listen in the trees. Or you can send one of your little friends with me if you don't believe me," Sasuke growled. He was serious, Naruto noted. He was dead serious.

Suddenly, Naruto yipped out to the mother fox, who looked at him questionably. The two exchanged barks, yips and growls in what Sasuke could only think was fox language – though where Naruto had learned how to speak Fox was beyond him. (1)

All of the sudden, they stopped and the fox wearily came over to Sasuke. She jumped on his shoulder, making him almost yelp in surprise.

"She will go with you," Naruto snarled. "Harm her – and I will skin you alive, at the very least." The last was said with a feral growl.

Sasuke nodded and walked, with the fox on his shoulder, back to where he knew Sakura was still standing.

Sakura was still waiting there, her smirk not undone. Sasuke could feel the hackles raise on the fox that was perched on his shoulder. "Shh," Sasuke whispered to the fox. He could feel the animal's nod against his neck. It tickled a little bit, but Sasuke didn't mind it.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura grinned when she saw him standing there, though she didn't notice the fox on his shoulder, for some reason, as she was usually a very observant girl. Somehow, she wasn't right now.

"Sakura… what exactly did you do to Naruto?" Sasuke said in his normal flat, blunt voice.

Sakura looked at him strangely. "Something any sane person would do to that monster," she growled. "Why?"

"I'm curious to know how you managed, all by yourself, to get Naruto to want to leave the village," Sasuke commented airily.

"Well I didn't do it all by myself," Sakura said. "I had help."

"From who?"

"You."

Sasuke felt claws digging painfully into his shoulder as he heard a light growl in the fox's throat.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked. "I didn't help you."

"Well… I transformed into you and then got Naruto to stop trusting you," Sakura answered truthfully. The claws stopped digging into his shoulder as the fox realized what had just been said.

Sasuke glared.

"You fucking bitch."

"I did it for us!"

"There is no 'us' and there never was and never will be."

Sasuke began to walk away, his mind enveloped in a rage he knew would probably not be a good thing around the girl.

"Without Naruto around, you might actually see me! All it is for you is _Naruto_. But guess what, Sasuke-kun? Naruto is a fucking demon, not a human – he's no more human than the Kyuubi no Kitsune was," Sakura yelled.

Sasuke ran over to her as quickly as he could, appearing right in front of her before she could realize he had moved. A hand moved up and slapped her across the face.

"_Never talk that way about Naruto!"_ Sasuke said in his most dangerous voice.

He left Sakura standing there, cradling her cheek from her teammate's attack. Fresh tears trailed down her face as Sasuke walked back to where Naruto was waiting.


	7. My Immortal

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 07: My Immortal**

Sasuke and the mother fox made their way back to the clearing that they had left Naruto in. Sasuke had, luckily, forgotten the way, so he had to rely on the red fur ball perched on his shoulder to direct him back to her cave.

And of course, said red fur ball, wasn't doing anything that would help him _at all!_ He growled under his breath, trying to remember the way back to the fox's den. This would be so much easily without claws digging into his shoulder or the fact that every tree seemed to be an exact replication of what was next to it. Sasuke sighed, wondering why the hell the gods put him through things like this. He didn't know the answer, and knowing his streaks of bad luck when it came to the blonde dobe, the Uchiha wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know.

Sighing to himself, he leaned against a tree. The mother fox, taking this new height as an advantage, jumped off the perch of the Uchiha's shoulder and made her way off into the woods. Not thinking of anything better to do, Sasuke followed her. He vaguely remembered that if one was lost, to stay in the same spot, but hell – this fox wouldn't lead him into danger, right?

Nope.

The fox led him back to her den, where her kits greeted her with whimpers, as though they were frightened. Even though Sasuke didn't know much about foxes, he knew a _lot_ about fear.

Naruto wasn't there, either.

Sasuke stared around, his mind doing a double take one what he had just noticed. _Naruto wasn't here_. He studied the bushed around the clearing, looking for anything that would point to the blonde's direction. Anything! But he couldn't find anything.

That was strange. Naruto had never been good at covering his tracks. It was common knowledge of Team Seven that Naruto sucked at stealth. Sasuke knew this well, because being a rival was more complicated than it sounded. He stopped as he remember something Itachi had told him once. A very long time ago.

_To know one's enemy is not just to know their strengths but also their faults. To know oneself is to acknowledge one's faults. True wisdom comes from doing so. True power comes from accepting it. _**1**

Sasuke shook his head, ridding Itachi's voice from his mind. He didn't need distraction right now. He didn't need to be so consumed by hatred – or emotions in general – that he couldn't concentrate on his task. He needed to find Naruto.

He needed to.

Sasuke, who had been running blindly through the forest, collapsed against a tree. _Naruto…_ he thought to himself, punching a tree trunk that he was leaning against. Tears came, unbidden, to his eyes and he tried to hold them back.

But he didn't want to lose the only person who had acknowledged him.

He didn't want to lose the only person he would dare call a friend.

He didn't want to lose the only person who had risked his life for Sasuke without expecting anything in return.

_Dammit,_ Sasuke screamed in his head, fist lashing out at the tree trunk. _Dammit, dammit, dammit. _With each new shout in his mind, Sasuke's fist connected once more with the tree trunk. _Dammit! _Finally, Sasuke's fist punched through the poor tree as he had accidentally lost control of his chakra. Coating his fist in it and literally burning a hole through a tree with it… was not something he did on a regular basis, so Sasuke gaped at his handiwork.

"Fuck," he growled to himself.

"You should be more careful about these things," a voice, low and unfamiliar, sounded in the Uchiha's ears. It was silky like a river, yet husky as the cold air. The only way that Sasuke could find to describe this voice was as something made completely from the Earth's resources: the air, the wind, the rivers, the stones, the lightning. This voice encompassed all of that and more, things that Sasuke couldn't identify.

The black-haired boy looked around wildly for the speaker.

To his surprise, Naruto jumped down in front of him – but this wasn't Naruto, at the same time.

It had a different aura about it… yet Sasuke had never before felt something like this. He had a sense of familiarity to the brief edges of it, but he knew nothing of it at the same time. It was too new, too powerful, yet so soothing. It made him want to just forget everything and sleep.

But he couldn't.

He had to figure out what was wrong with his friend before he even tried to sleep. Before he even tried to do _anything_, Naruto came first.

"Naruto…" his voice whispered, hoarse and raspy. "What… happened to you?"

Sasuke was regarded with cold eyes. That's when he noticed that the eyes were the normal blue that he looked in day after day. The pupil had lengthened, slit like a cat's, and the irises were a fiery orange. Those soft marks of whiskers that had adorned the blonde's cheeks were lengthened, sharper, darker. Even the blonde hair that had reminded Sasuke so much of the sunshine that would rain down on it day after day was no longer the same. It was still blonde, that much was true, but it was streaked with red, a crimson red of fresh blood, but somehow Sasuke knew that it wasn't blood. Through the blondish-red hair poked two dark red ears with black tips.

His body had changed. Still tanned, the shoulders had broadened out and become more muscles. Sasuke almost found himself blushing at the bared, muscled chest before him and had to fight himself _very much_ to keep the blush off his face. It was then that Sasuke noticed that he and Naruto were now eyelevel. The dobe had grown at least four or five inches. Also, Sasuke was stunned to notice a dark red, matching the streaks in his hair, fox tail sticking out of a hole in the back of the boy's pants. The tail waved to and fro lazily.

"What… what happened to you?" Sasuke repeated his earlier question, trying again to understand the weird, sudden change of Naruto. He hadn't looked like this earlier. Naruto didn't respond, so Sasuke took a step closer to the boy.

"Naruto…?" he asked softly.

"Jeez!" the boy in front of him said, sighing and putting a hand to rest against his forehead. "I completely forgot this idiot's body. Fuck, _no one_ will fear me now! Dammit! Pops is going to be _so_ pissed!" The dobe seemed to be ranting to himself, though his voice was much younger sounding than it had earlier. Also, the boy was speaking of weird things that Sasuke didn't even know how to comprehend, because none of it made any sort of sense to the Uchiha.

So, Sasuke just blinked at the blonde.

The other boy turned to him, putting a hand against the back of his head and chuckling sheepishly. "Eh, sorry about that," he said. "I tend to forget that people can hear me ranting to myself now."

"Naruto?" was all Sasuke asked, though he was seriously worried about the boy's sanity at the moment. This child in front of him… his manner was different from Naruto's and at the same time, it was the alike to Uzumaki's childish antics.

"No, no, no," the red-streaked blonde said, shaking his head and waving his hands in front of him. "My name's Kyuunan **2**. Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand in a friendly manner.

Sasuke just stared at him in complete bewilderment.

Kyuunan seemed to become a little disheartened at this. "Dammit," he grumbled under his breath. "_No one_ knows me. Fuck you, Pops… everyone knows _you_, but no one bothers to know me! Grr… that's why I wanted to go out on my own – but they had to mistake me for you and then look at me! I got fucking sealed!"

Sasuke could only pick up bits and pieces of the conversation the boy was having with himself until Kyuunan suddenly shouted, "GOD DAMMIT, I HATE YOU, DAD!"

"Who's your father?" Sasuke wanted to know as he stared at the boy who seemed to have inhabited and had some kind of metamorphosis with Naruto's body.

"Oh, I ranted again, didn't I?" Kyuunan said. "Fuck… sorry about that. Anyways, my dad's Kyuubi… or the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Whatever, I just call him an asshole. I mean, after all the shit he's done, everyone thinks I'm him. Some village attacked me and sealed me inside this little twerp because they thought I was the all mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune." He grumbled incoherently to himself for a moment. "Wrong folks, Pops and I have almost nothing in common. He's this huge Demon King, while I'm the idiot son who doesn't want to take over. Thank the gods that I don't have to take over. Damn, I love being the youngest!"

Sasuke stared. "You mean… you were the thing trapped inside of Naruto?" he wanted to know.

Kyuunan looked at him. "Yeah, nice to meet you," he said. Kyuunan looked closer at Sasuke, narrowing his orange eyes at the boy. "Oh, shit, I know you! You're the Uchiha bastard, aren't you?"

Sasuke felt his eye twitch at Naruto's name for him. Obviously, the dobe talked to himself, but Sasuke really couldn't blame the kid. With this thing stuck inside of him, it really wasn't any question of why the kid was so screwed up anymore – it was the question of how to get Naruto back to his normal state.

"So, um… Kyuunan," Sasuke asked.

"Yeah?" the fox asked. Sasuke had to concentrate on Kyuunan's eyes in order to try and ignore the tail that was so hypnotizing.

"How exactly did you manage to take of Naruto's body?" Sasuke questioned.

Kyuunan sat down, motioning for Sasuke to do so as well. After Sasuke was comfortable, the fox-demon began his tale.

"Well, you had just left with Ritsu-"

"Ritsu?"

"The mother fox."

"Oh."

"Yeah, well – you had just left with Ritsu when the kits, Naki and Shin, started to cry. Naruto didn't know what the hell was wrong with them – and to tell you the truth, I didn't know either. Then this weird dude came out into the clearing. Naruto and I tried to cover the kits, but yeah… two spirits in one body, well, it doesn't usually work out that well. All in all… both of us were trying to do things and it didn't work."

Sasuke sighed. Trust the dobe and this… moron not to realize that two spirits in one body would never work, even if both were focused on the same thing.

Kyuunan's grin vanished as his orange eyes clouded over in memory. "It was really scary… I've never felt anything like that before. It seems like… I don't know… a what-sa-ma-callit. Jit-jat-Sue?"

"Jutsu?" Sasuke replied.

Kyuunan nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, one of those things!" he said happily, but his excitement soon burned itself out. "He did one of those jutsu-things on us. We were just trying to protect Ritsu's kits and he had to go and switch our personalities – who got control of the body. When I came to… I could actually move my arm. And yeah… that's about it."

"Do you know what jutsu the man performed?" Sasuke inquired, even though he felt like a moron after it. Kyuunan couldn't even say the word "jutsu" so how would he know what jutsu his enemy had used.

"Nope," the fox said with a proud grin. "Not at all."

Sasuke sighed. He stood up. "Come on… we need to take you to go see Naruto and my's Sensei."

"Who the hell's that?" was the fox's blunt reply.

"Kakashi-sensei is the man who teaches us how to become shinobi," Sasuke explained, exasperated. Why did the gods hate him? First to have to find out that he might like Naruto as a friend, and then have Naruto replaced by this crazy Fox! Someone up there hated him, and whenever Sasuke found out who it was, he was going to throttle them – thoroughly. But first, there were other matters to attend to.

"You think that the pervert could actually help?" Kyuunan asked, knowing perfectly well who Kakashi was, judging by his memory of that one time that Naruto had managed to… errr… borrow the man's book. While the blonde had several nosebleeds reading it, Kyuunan had come in, nearly passing out (let's just forget that he doesn't have any real blood) as he read the same scenes.

The wonders of puberty, Kyuunan always thought after that. After all, in Demon years, the boy was only twelve himself. At least he was twelve when he had been sealed, and since sealing also prevents aging of any kind (because to age, one needs a body, and Kyuunan no longer had one of his own). Therefore, the fox-demon was a mere kit himself, in many ways, which accounted for his erratic and obnoxious behavior in many ways.

"So, besides the women's bathing house, do you know any other places to find Kakashi?" Kyuunan asked, gazing at Sasuke. He stood up so the two were on eye level again.

Sasuke nodded in response after checking his watch. "He should be arriving at the bridge in an hour," the Uchiha explained.

Kyuunan nodded in response. That would make sense.

The two boys headed off in a hurry to the red bridge where Team Seven was always meeting, making a quick stop at Sasuke's house for a baggy hoody that came down past Kyuunan's waist. This way, it would hide both his ears and his tail.

It angered both of them that one Haruno Sakura was sitting by the bridge, waiting for Kakashi to arrive.

As soon as he saw the pink-haired girl sitting there as though nothing were wrong, Kyuunan growled in his throat. Over the past few weeks, since the boys had met face to face and established a bond of sorts, Kyuunan was basically living every moment with Naruto. Although he couldn't control the body, he stared out of the boy's eyes and was the constant presence in the Uzumaki's head that kept the Uzumaki from being too lonely. But there's only so much comfort that a demon could give, so Kyuunan knew that he wasn't everything the boy needed, but he liked to believe that being there for Naruto had helped his holder.

Kyuunan had seen what Sakura had done to Naruto – all of those times. He had seen what that girl did to his host, who he liked to think of as a brother.

_Brother_.

The name bounced off the sides of Kyuunan's head.

Brothers looked out for each other. Wasn't that what Nii-san was always telling him?

_That's why Nii-san will make a good King of Demons_, Kyuunan thought.

All of that was abolished when the girl turned her eyes on the pain, green eyes immediately losing their sparkle. Through his uneasy power of Telepathy, Kyuunan picked up a little bit of what was going on in Sakura's head and it angered him even further.

-_Fucking demon, why is he with Sasuke-kun-_ Sakura was thinking. –_He doesn't deserve all the kindness the villagers have given him. He should just fucking die and leave me alone. I hate him. I would kill him myself but then Sasuke wouldn't want to be with me.-_

That was it! Kyuunan had heard enough. He growled low in his throat, lip twitching as he bared his fangs, another aspect of his Fox appearance. He could feel the neck prickle on his neck in anger and the claws shooting out of his fingers. His ears, under the hoody, were flat and his eyes were narrowed.

He was pissed off.

_No one_ should talk about Naruto that way.

Naruto was not a demon! He was kind, he was innocent and he was cheerful! The only demons were those that had neglected him, spit upon him and curse him! They were the true demons, not Naruto.

Never Naruto.

Kyuunan was eager to show this pink-haired bitch this.

His growl became a snarl as he began to charge at the Haruno.**  
**

_Stop it, Kyuunan!_ Kyuunan pulled to a halt, looking around wildly for the voice that he had heard. His orange eyes were wide as he scanned the faces of all those around him. He couldn't see who was who. He noticed that Kakashi had shown up, but that voice _wasn't_ Kakashi's. In fact, it sounded more like…

Naruto.

Kyuunan suddenly understood. Naruto had always communicated with him when it was Kyuunan behind the bars, but now… had the blonde figured out what Kyuunan had not? Had Naruto figured out a way for him to communicate with Kyuunan?

_Why?_ Kyuunan sent back to the boy, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He didn't realize that his tail had freed itself from the hoodie was wagging back and forth.

There was a sigh in the back of Kyuunan's mind, and Kyuunan felt warm rush through him. How long had it been since he had heard or felt someone sigh? How long had it been since Kyuunan was able to have a conversation? He felt warmth tickle his fingertips and toes as he realized this. His tail wiggled faster, showing his excitement. He still didn't notice it.

Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura had, though, but he was currently ignoring them.

_No matter what she's done, I can't bring myself to hate her_, came Naruto's reply. Kyuunan let a soft sound rise up in his throat. It wasn't a whimper, but more a comforting mew.

_I understand. I will not harm her,_ Kyuunan promised.

_Thank you… Kyuunan_.

Kyuunan grinned.

_I'm tired… so I think I'll sleep for a little bit. Call on me if you have any questions, Kyuunan… I'll be sure to answer them. Oh, by the way, your tail is sticking out._

Kyuunan blushed at the last comment. He opened his orange eyes again and scanned the surrounding people. Sasuke was muttering under his breath, his fist casually bonking himself on the head. Sakura was staring with a look of pure disgust. Kakashi was looking intrigued. He didn't even have his porn book out.

Slowly, Kyuunan retracted his claws and reached up, pulling the hood back. He smiled good-naturedly at Kakashi, though glared coldly at Sakura.

"Hi!" he greeted with a wave.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. This boy _looked_ like Naruto… but _wasn't_ the Uzumaki he had come to know. The jounin jumped down from his perch.

"And who are you?" he asked in a nonchalant way.

"Oh, sorry about that," Kyuunan said in his normal perky voice. "I'm Youkai Kyuunan!" He tilted his head to the side, in an adorably cute way, and stuck out his tongue, giving a little "v" sign with his right hand.

_Kyuubi-kun's Korner! _

_1 This quote is taken from Cyn Wraith's story, Down Into Darkness. Good story, but I love this quote from it. Sorry I didn't ask to use this, Cyn Wraith, if you're reading this… but I'm putting my disclaimer here, so don't kill me – please!_

_2 Kyuunan means "unexpected disaster." Its also the name of one of my brother's kittens. And lemme tell you, lil Kyuu-kun is a disaster. My bro's other cat is Hanabi, which means "fireworks." Ahh… I love his cats. They're so cute and nice, and cuddly and tiny and cute… and (sighs happily). So yeah, I thought this would be the perfect name for Kyuubi's child, because it has Kyuu in it and come on… a demon is an unexpected disaster if you think about it. Perfect name. MWA!_


	8. Anywhere

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 08: Anywhere**

Kyuunan looked around at the stunned silence that surrounded him. "Eh?" he asked with an adorably confused look on his face. Sasuke came over to him, putting his hands on his shoulders and sighed.

"Idiot," he mumbled before regaining his cold attitude.

Sakura looked like she wanted to die, while Kakashi just looked even more interested in finding out what was going on.

"Who did you say you were?" the silver-haired jounin asked.

"Youkai Kyuunan, why?" the fox-boy replied, staring at Kakashi with his bright orange eyes.

"And why do you look like Naruto?"

The three could hear murmured curses and looked over to Sasuke, seeing him hitting his forehead with a fist again. They ignored him, turning back to each other.

"Well… that would be… ano… because… I'm what's… y'know… _in_ Naruto," Kyuunan settled for the best answer he could. He tried to smile, but found that all he could do was stare at Kakashi seriously.

Kakashi lifted the only eyebrow that the others could see. "Perhaps we should speak of this in private, Youkai-san," the sensei said.

"It wouldn't matter," Kyuunan responded immediately.

"Oh?"

"Yeah… the brat went ballistic on Uchiha-bastard this morning and stabbed his arm with a fork… then screamed about he was the Kyuubi no Kitsune and everything," Kyuunan told Kakashi-sensei. He turned and glared harshly at Sakura. "Haruno was outside, and heard him." He sighed, pulling out his claws and retracting them in boredom. "Unfortunately, this entire town is wrong – Naruto doesn't have the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of him."

Kakashi looked at him. "What do you mean, _of course_ he do-" he began to say, but was cut off by the fox.

"No… he's had _me_ inside of him. I'm just Kyuunan… not the Kyuubi no Kitsune," he growled, eyes narrowing. "The village made a mistake. You sealed the Kyuubi's _son_ inside the brat, not the Kyuubi himself."

Kakashi gave a start of surprise, so say the least. His eye widened as he realized what the boy in front of him had revealed.

"Are you sure?" he rasped.

"Uhh… _yeah_," the fox-demon grumbled. Kakashi let out a sheepish laugh.

"Well… um… we're going to have to go to the Hokage with this case," he told them.

Kyuunan jumped to his feet and looked at the man. "NO!" he yelped. "No, no, no, no, and no!"

"Why not?" Kakashi wanted to know.

"You just _can't_," Kyuunan shouted back. "My pops would _kill_ me!"

"Your father probably already knows, considering that the entirety of the ninja world is aware of the fact that the 'Kyuubi no Kitsune' got sealed inside Naruto," Kakashi pointed out dully.

The reaction of Kyuunan was something that everyone present would have expected from _Naruto_.

He began to pull at his hair, mumbling curses and stamping his foot every few seconds. Then, what was already natural to Sasuke – but not to the other two – the fox-boy began to rant.

"Great, just bloody perfect!" the boy was shouting to no one. "Now Dad's gonna fucking _kill_ me and then there's nothing that I can do – he'll probably make me stay in the fucking palace for another century or something. I _hate _house arrest! That's why I got away… it doesn't matter that I was _grounding_ when I got away, but then I was just walking along – minding my _own_ business, thank you, and I get attacked!" He crosses his arms and pouts, his ears drooping slightly. "And then they go off and seal me… oh look – it's the Kyuubi no Kitsune, everyone run for your lives while our _Hokage_ will come and save us. Bunch of pissants – couldn't even fight a kit… if it _had_ been my dad, they all would've died. And I think, just to _spite me _they put in the body of the most _moronic_ person on the planet! Gee, life's just dandy. And then that handsome asshole had to come along and switch us. I was _finally_ getting used to being sealed and he has to go ruin my life! Knowing him, Nii-san probably sent that ass… just to piss me off, never mind the fact that I had just gotten _comfortable_ and was _sleeping_ when the ass showed up!"

Then he went further, making both Sakura and Kakashi jump as he shook his fist at the sky. "_FUCK YOU, POPS! AND YOU, TOO, NII-SAN!"_

With that said, he sat down and quieted.

Sasuke just sighed, while Kakashi and Sakura glanced at Kyuunan, obviously bewildered.

"Kyuunan," Sasuke spoke for the first time during the conversation aside from the insult earlier.

"Eh?" Kyuunan asked, giving everyone the look of innocent confusion that most every bishonen can and does make. "What's wrong?"

"You ranted again," the Uchiha said softly.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck a duck and screw a kangaroo. Finger-bang an orangutan, orgy at the zoo," Kyuunan muttered softly.

"Interesting," Kakashi said. "Where did you learn that one, Youkai-kun."

"Eh, Naruto stole one of your pervert books a while back, it was in there… I thought it sounded interesting," Kyuunan said without thinking.

"Oh yes!" Kakashi said with a grin. "Volume 6, right?"

Kyuunan nodded. "We've also read volumes 1-19," Kyuunan answered. "We never managed to swipe 20, though…" He pouts, mainly because volume 19 had ended _right before the good stuff_.

"Anyway," Sasuke interrupted before the conversation would switch to talking about positions and the like that he was _sure_ was in those novels. "What exactly are we going to do concerning Kyuunan?"

Kakashi looked thoughtful. Sakura, on the other hand, snorted. The three males turned to her, Kyuunan narrowing his orange irises.

"What is it, bitch?" he growled in a low voice.

Sakura seemed taken aback by the way this boy was treating her. Kyuunan smiled maliciously.

"Don't forget," he snarled, eyes glinting with something evil… something deadly. "I may _look_ like Naruto, but I'm _not_ him, by far. I wouldn't hesitate to _kill_ you for what you did to him."

Sasuke and Kakashi looked at the boy. The fox-boy had radiated nothing by a happy presence only seconds beforehand, but now he was as cold and sharp as the tip of a steel blade.

"Then why don't you?" Sakura asked angrily. "Why don't you kill me?" She clenched her fists together. "Everyone knows you're just a monster! So it shouldn't be that hard for you to kill me!"

Kyuunan's eyes narrowed, the smirk on his lips becoming a cold grin. "Well, I _would_ but, unlike you, I actually listen to Naruto every now and then," he told her softly. "And for reasons that I have yet to figure out – Naruto doesn't hate you and doesn't want you dead… even _after_ what you did to him. That should show you who the real monster out of the two of you is."

Sakura's brave front fell as she realized what Kyuunan had said.

"Now look what you did, Kyuunan," another, deeper voice said. "You made a mortal cry."

Kyuunan's eyes lowered and his ears drooped, as did his tail. "Aww, fuck," Sasuke heard him mutter to himself. Sasuke and Kakashi looked up to see someone standing in the branches.

It was a tall fox-human. His eyes were a cold, merciless red. His hair was a long red ponytail. He wore black slacks and a black sleeveless shirt with fishnets underneath. Jumping down to them, the three humans realized that this newcomer was about as tall as Kakashi. Kyuunan knew that this stranger was a fox-demon, like himself… he had just perfected the technique of changing into a full human, rather than still having the ears and tail as Kyuunan did.

"Well, Kyuunan, I see you've gotten yourself into a huge mess, as usual," the fox-man said. "And you've been _sealed_ of all things. Are you really that _weak_?"

Kyuunan's ears drooped, if possible, even lower and he bowed his head. Sasuke stared at the two in surprise, offhandedly realizing how close they were to his own family – his brother, nowadays, always putting him down and Sasuke just taking it without saying much most of the time. That or he would run down his brother with a kunai in hand and somehow end up unconscious. He shook his head as he looked back to Kyuunan and who he guessed was someone close to Kyuunan – or not so...

"Look, Kyuunan, Father won't like it at all that you've gone and gotten yourself sealed," the stranger snarled.

Kyuunan clenched his fists, looking up at the other fox with anger in his orange eyes. "It's not my fault! If anything, it was _Father's_ fault that I got sealed," he snapped. "Some people mistook me for him!"

Kyuunan wasn't able to continue as his elder slapped him across his face. Biting his bottom lip, Kyuunan suddenly felt really depressed. _Never_ before had his older brother actually hit him. Demoralized? Yes. Humiliated? Yes. Gotten into Trouble? Yes. But _never_ actually physically hurt.

"Kyuushin," he whispered, not looking at his older brother. "Why are you here?"

"What do you mean? I found you to see what kind of chaos you had caused and whether or not I would have to get you out of it."

"Stop lying, Kyuushin!" Kyuunan yelled angrily, tears growing in his eyes. "It's been _twelve years_ since I've been sealed and you never _once_ looked for me! So why are you here now?"

"I wanted to see if you were strong enough to come back, so I sent some people to look out for you – and you managed to almost _kill_ your host," the fox was saying.

Kyuunan looked at him, bottom lip quavering. "I didn't… it wasn't my fault!" he yelled, trying not to shake too much from the mixture of fear and anger that boiled inside of him.

Kakashi had drawn Sasuke and Sakura away from the argument, for he wanted neither of them to get hurt in what could very well end up as a fight.

"Just stay away from me, aniki!" Kyuunan screamed at the top of his lungs. His eyes were narrowed, ears laid flat on his head and claws out. He wanted to lunge at his older brother and rip him to shreds. He wanted to kill Kyuushin. He wanted to murder him… in the most painful way possible.

But he knew that Kyuushin was much stronger than him. While Kyuunan had spent most of his days lazying around, Kyuushin had trained hard and had mastered several methods of fighting. Kyuunan usually stayed out of his brother's way, but of course he had a childlike nature and couldn't resist pulling a prank on the bastard once or twice. But they had been virtually harmless and didn't do _much_ property damage either!

Kyuushin's voice pulled Kyuunan back to the present time, and present problem.

"Kyuunan – you left thirteen and a half years ago, saying you were going to get away from the Youkai name and regime, but within the first year of your travels, you were known as a Youkai and sealed by a mere mortal!" Kyuushin growled. "And even now, you still have yet to perfect the transformation technique!"

Kyuunan felt himself shaking with pent up rage. He hated his brother. There had been a time – one that was distant memory – where his brother had been _nice_, had been _kind_, had actually _smiled_. Then something happened – something that Kyuunan had no knowledge of – and Kyuushin had _changed_ to say the least. His brother no longer laughed, cared or smiled.

No longer loved.

Kyuunan shook his head. "If I'm so weak… and imperfect… _then why don't you just leave me the fuck alone!"_ the fox-boy had screamed at the top of the lungs. All it earned him was another smack from his brother. This one sent him to the ground.

Kyuunan stayed where he had fallen, his hurt cheek stinging painfully, as if it were mocking him. He was weak.

"You have no respect for your elders, Kyuunan," Kyuushin sneered, eyes narrowing maliciously. "You have no reason to call yourself Youkai any longer! I hereby disown you from our prestigious family."

"I thought only the _King_ could do something like that," Kyuunan grumbled.

"I am King," was Kyuushin's response. "Father died last year. I've had people trying to locate you since then, just to see if you have grown. Momochi Zabuza and his apprentice responded to me, saying they had seen a boy with you sealed inside, and then later, I learned from some other contacts that you had let your host die." He paused. "I'm ashamed off you, Kyuunan. A demon such as yourself should know that if your _host_ dies, then you die as well. Surely, you are not suicidal. Frankly, I do not care to continue this conversation any longer."

With that, Kyuushin vanished, leaving behind a shocked Kyuunan and three astounded humans in his wake.

Kyuunan sniffed softly, looking down at the fists still clenched in his lap. The three humans watching the demon felt a strange sort of pity for the fox-boy – even Sakura did.

"Goddammit!" Kyuubi sobbed aloud. Unlike Naruto, he did not care if anyone saw his tears – especially now that he was able to have tear ducts to cry. "Goddammit, goddammit, goddammit!"

Surprisingly, it was Uchiha Sasuke who walked over the redheaded blonde. He put a hand on the fox demon's shoulder.

Kyuunan just looked up at him with tear-filled orange eyes. "S-sorry Sasuke," he murmured.

"For what?" Sasuke asked, surprised.

Kyuunan leapt to his feet. "I… it really wasn't… I lied before, okay?" he said. "Nobody switched me and Naruto… we did it ourselves."

Sasuke was silent, but he found that he was really not mad at the two… in fact, after seeing the confrontation, he felt some sort of understanding.

Kyuunan had not stopped talking, so Sasuke tuned once again into the words being said. "Naruto… was hurt… and he just wanted to hide," the fox-boy was explaining. "He… I wanted just a chance to be free again…" He sighed. "So I guess we filled each other's wishes."

"Is there a way for you to change back?" Kakashi asked from where he had sat down.

Kyuunan nodded. "There's just one thing I wanted to do first…" he murmured. The three humans looked at him, confused, before they saw him hurriedly wipe his eyes.

_Kyuunan! Don't do it! She'll kill me!_

Kyuunan ignored Naruto's nagging in the back of his mind. He stormed over to Sakura with a twisted, evil look on his face, anger showing in his eyes. His hand came back and he slapped her before anyone could stop him.

"_Never do what you did to Naruto again, you hear me?" _he snarled, making everyone there shiver at the deepness and the growl in his voice.

Returning to his normal persona, he turned to Kakashi and Sasuke. "Naruto will need rest after this," he warned them before closing his eyes.

A wave of red chakra, weaved with blue, surrounded the boy. Slowly, the appearance of Kyuunan disappeared, returning once again to the Naruto that all three of them had known. When the chakra finally disappeared, Naruto's blue eyes closed and he slumped over, completely unconscious.

Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura just looked at the unconscious body before them before Sasuke moved over and picked the boy up. "Honestly, dobe," he grumbled to himself.

The three walked back towards the village in complete silence.

Once they had reached Sakura's house, the jounin bid her a goodbye while Sasuke walked on, still cradling Naruto to his chest.

Kakashi soon caught up with the Uchiha. "I don't want Naruto to go back to his apartment, at least not until he's better," the silver-haired nin said lightly.

"He's staying with me," Sasuke answered coldly.

Kakashi stopped, smiling to himself after the two. He knew that there was more to that sentence than even Sasuke might want to admit, but he still loved the fact that nearly everything worked out in the end.

Even though the man was still curious about Kyuunan. Ah, well, things like that should not be dwelled on, rather, they should be kept as fond memories. Anyway, Kakashi went home and looked at his bookshelf, his eye catching Volume 20 of _Icha Icha Paradise. _Smiling to himself, the jounin took it out and laid it next to the things he would collect to take with him in the morning.

After all… things like _Icha Icha Paradise_ should be shared.


	9. Exodus

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 09: Exodus**

Sasuke had lain Naruto out on his bed, tucking the boy's unconscious body beneath the blankets to block out the cold that seemed in through the windows in the Uchiha's room. He had closed the windows, but the frame of one of them got stuck, leaving it open about three inches. The wind seeped in, brushing across the two boys.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt another presence in the room. In a flash, he had a kunai out of his pouch and was guarding Naruto.

"Ma, ma, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said as he entered the room, lighting tapping Sasuke's head with a bright orange book.

Sasuke, instead of inquiring about the man's reasons for being there, stared at the book. "Don't tell me…" he began.

"Volume 20!" Kakashi replied proudly, his eye curving up in what Sasuke interpreted as a grin.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, glowering at his teacher. Kakashi chuckled when he saw this.

"Don't be like that, Sasuke," the silver-haired jounin told the Uchiha. "What would Naruto say?"

Sasuke didn't reply, instead, his eyes darted to the blonde on his bed. The boy had yet to awaken. It had been four days since Kyuunan had given back the body to the original owner.

The entire matter concerned Naruto and Kyuunan still confused him. He didn't know their relationship or really anything about them. It scared him – how little he knew about the growing part of his life. He still wondered why he brought Naruto here. Not once, but twice he had done this.

Kakashi, noticing the change of mood in the air, dropped the jokes. He put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. This pulled Sasuke out of his reverie.

"How's he doing?" Kakashi wanted to know.

Sasuke looked back at the blonde while he answered, "I'm not a doctor – but he hasn't moved for four days." He felt a slowly sinking feeling in his chest, and quickly shook it off.

As much as he hated to admit it, this blonde Kitsune was the only one who had managed to worm past his defenses to take a place in his heart. The first person since… _that time_.

He didn't even realize when Kakashi left. All the Uchiha knew was that his mentor was gone, and he was glad for it. Sitting by Naruto again, he watched over the boy, hoping that he would be okay.

He had to be.

It was the only way that Sasuke would be able to forgive himself.

If only he had not frozen right after Naruto told him… if only he had gotten there sooner… if only he had been a true friend instead of what he had, in reality, actually been.

"I'm sorry," was all he found that he could whisper. His eyes were shut tight so he didn't see the small movement on the bed.

A hand moved, lifting up to a hot forehead as eyes the color of the ocean opened groggily. They showed confusion, but when they focused on the Uchiha nearby, a soft smile appeared on the once motionless lips.

Using what strength he could – as he had gained back a lot in his rest – Naruto sat up in bed. The first though that coherently rushed around was how cold it was right now.

"Sasuke?" the blonde asked.

The brunette's eyes snapped open, disbelief showing in the bottomless depths as he saw that Naruto was awake.

"Naruto!" the boy yelped, hugging Naruto fiercely to his chest. Twice now. Twice he had thought that he had lost the blonde.

Twice he had gotten his wish when he wanted the boy to heal.

He thanked whatever gods might be doing this. A second chance was hard to come by, but a third chance – a third chance was something magickal. He felt as though, _this_ was the time that he had to make up for years of hatred, pain and insults.

"S-Sasuke?" Naruto stammered, obviously confused by the brunette hugging him. He had never felt this warmth that almost consumed him. He loved it. Laying his head on Sasuke's shoulder, he breathed in the scent of Sasuke. It was a misty winter pine scent that Naruto had always loved.

"Don't ever go away again, Naruto," Sasuke was murmuring.

"I'm sorry," Naruto mumbled softly.

Sasuke pulled back from the embrace and Naruto almost wanted to grab the boy and glomp him or something girlish like that.

"Are you all right?" Sasuke wanted to know, concern in his eyes.

Naruto just nodded, not meeting Sasuke's eyes. There was a faint flush on his cheeks and he was staring at the room, rather than at Sasuke. He remembered this place now. This was where he had been before when Sakura had-

No, now was not the time to think about that. His eye caught the bright orange cover of the Icha Icha Paradise book that Kakashi had brought earlier.

Before Sasuke could do anything, the blonde had reached out and swiped the book off the bedside table.

"What's this, Sasuke?" he asked with a teasing smirk.

"T-That's for you," Sasuke stuttered. "From Kakashi."

Naruto chuckled, opening the book to the first page. "Yeah, that sounds like Kakashi, all right," he snickered.

"I'm going to get something to eat," Sasuke said in a somewhat stiff voice. "I'll get you some ramen.

After he had left, Naruto turned back to the book. He sighed happily. "Damn, its good to be back."

Naruto and Sasuke went to the bridge later that morning. Without his own clothes, Naruto ended up mooching off Sasuke again. He was wearing a black-t-shirt that had a picture of a tiger and a dragon fighting, done in silver coloring, on the chest. His pants were black as well. His hair had returned to its normal blonde and the fox parts had vanished.

Sakura was already there. Neither of the boys acknowledged her. She sighed, depressed about Sasuke not asking after her – or even grunting like usual when she said, "Hello, Sasuke-kun."

Naruto jumped onto the bridge, sitting at the corner where the pillar met with the railing. "Ne, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"What?" was the brunette's reply.

"Can we have ramen for dinner tonight?" Naruto asked. He had accepted the fact that Sasuke wasn't going to let Naruto go back to his apartment until the boy had made sure that Naruto was okay.

"No," Sasuke answered.

Naruto pouted. "Why not?" he wanted to know.

Sasuke tapped the blonde lightly on the head with his fist. "If you can't remember – you just had it for breakfast," was the response.

"So?"

"So we're not eating it tonight. You're going to have real food."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Like _Fruit Loops_?" he asked. "Those things are horrible."

"Don't insult the food or you won't be able to eat any of it, dobe," was Sasuke's mild threat.

Naruto's mouth closed without another word. He glared at Sasuke and turned his head to the river, admiring the fish beneath the surface. Once he got bored with that, he pulled out Volume 20 of _Icha Icha Paradise_.

"Yo!" Kakashi yelled an hour later.

Only an angry silence greeted the jounin. Looking down at his students, he saw that all three of them were glaring at him. Looking at what was in Naruto's hand, the Jounin grinned.

It was the infamous orange book that was making the blonde get dirty looks from his other two students.

_Good,_ Kakashi thought. _Icha Icha Paradise might be able to help Naruto calm down._

See, the book really wasn't as perverted as everyone always said it was. Sure, it was perverted, but it had a plot – sometimes.

"Ne, Naruto," he called.

The blonde looked up from the book. "What?" he asked.

"We need to go back to the hospital, just to make sure that your chakra control is all right, even after what happened with Kyuunan," the silver-haired nin explained.

The reaction was not at all what he expected from Naruto. Kakashi had expected the blonde to get angry. He expected the boy to yell at him about how he was fine and didn't need to go to the hospital.

He did not expect the boy's eyes to widen in fear and the color drain out of his face. He had not expected the book to snap shut, only to accidentally be dropped moments later. He did not expect for the boy to step away from him, hands trembling and shaking his head from side to side.

It surprised the silver-haired nin. Just like most things about Naruto these days surprised Kakashi.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Sasuke was asking.

"I'm not going back there!" Naruto yelled out suddenly. Without another word, the blonde took off across the bridge and into the forest, leaving three very confused people in his wake.

"All right then, change of plans," Kakashi was saying a moment later. "Sakura – go warn Tsunade-sama that Naruto will be visiting her soon. Sasuke, you and I are going to look for the brat."

The two students nodded and the three nin went off in their respective directions.

_Naruto, where are you, dammit! _Sasuke yelled in his mind as he jumped from branch to branch on his way to find the dobe. He and Kakashi had been searching for ten minutes, keeping track of each other through headsets.

Sasuke closed his eyes and concentrated on Naruto's chakra. He was surprised that he could actually feel it. It was to the left of him. Changing direction sharply, he focused on the blue-red chakra in his mind and followed it. It took him about five minutes to get there.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted out when he caught sight of the boy. There was a strange feeling surrounding the clearing – it seemed to give the air a charge or something like that. Shaking his head, insisting to himself that he had officially gone insane, Sasuke approached the blonde.

"Naruto?" he asked.

But it wasn't Naruto.

It was Kyuunan.

"Kyuunan!" Sasuke yelped, stumbling backwards.

Kyuunan looked up at Sasuke. "'Sup, Uchiha?" he asked with a grin. "Sorry about the brat. I figured the only way to get him checked out at the hospital was to drag him there myself."

Sasuke scanned his eyes over Kyuunan. "Well, you have gotten better at transforming," he said. He pointed to the boy's hair. "No ears."

Kyuunan jumped up happily and glomped the poor Uchiha, tackling him to the ground. The fox-boy straddled Sasuke's waist as the black-haired teenager looked up at him in surprise.

"I'm getting better at it! YAY!" he cheered.

"Yeah, yeah, now get off, Kyuunan," the Uchiha growled.

Kyuunan finally saw what he was doing. "Oh, sorry, Uchiha."

"You can call me 'Sasuke' you know," the Uchiha told him. "It's not like we're strangers."

"Really?" Kyuunan asked. "YAY!" The fox grabbed Sasuke's arm, his face contorting to a pleasant smile, eyes squinted and aura happy. "You're my very first friend."

When Kyuunan let go and began to walk back to the bridge, where they would meet up with Kakashi, Sasuke stood in shock for a moment. Then he chuckled softly.

Naruto and Kyuunan were an intriguing pair, to say the least. He activated the headset-communicator.

"Mission complete," Sasuke said into the device. "We're heading back to the bridge."

"All right, I'll meet you there," Kakashi responded.

Sasuke nodded and hit the 'silent' switch so that Kakashi didn't hear what he was talking with Kyuunan about. He let the headset hang around his neck as he caught up with the fox-boy.

Kyuunan was waiting for him. Sasuke stared at him in confusion when the boy didn't move to walk towards the bridge.

"I was waiting for someone else to be around before I gave up control again," Kyuubi stated.

Sasuke nodded and a bright light blinded him for a moment. When it vanished, Naruto stood there – conscious. _Probably because Kyuunan hadn't taken control for a long time_, Sasuke thought as he went over and latched onto the blonde's wrist.

"Come on," he told the boy.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked as he followed compliantly behind Sasuke, letting the brunette hold his wrist.

"We're going to the hospital," Sasuke growled softly, not knowing what was wrong with Naruto and what it had to do with the hospital.

He felt something tugging at his hand and turned around to see Naruto trying desperately to break free. When the Uchiha felt his grip slipping, he turned and tackled Naruto to a tree, pinning him there with his body. The boy's wrists were slammed above his head.

"Naruto – what the _fuck_?" Sasuke whispered darkly. "Why don't you want to go to the damn hospital?" He stared at the boy, dark eyes sharp and questioning.

Naruto glared back, his eyes angry and full of hatred with a touch of fear on the side. "Let go of me," he snarled, struggling wildly, but the Uchiha had him trapped. He couldn't move.

"You're not going anywhere until you explain what the hell is wrong with you!"

"I- I can't… they… just let go of me and leave me alone!" Naruto howled, his struggled becoming vicious. Realizing that he couldn't move his arms or legs, the blonde leaned forward as best he could, sinking his teeth into the Uchiha's shoulder. Blood blossomed from the cuts he teeth were causing.

"Ow!" Sasuke yelled, jumping back. Naruto smiled evilly, wiping the blood from his mouth.

"I'm not going back there, dammit!" he growled at the other boy.

"You're going, whether I have to make you or not!" Sasuke snapped.

"Just try it!"

Naruto pulled two kunai out of his holster and aimed them at Sasuke. The Uchiha dodged the attack, rushing on the offensive. Kunai clashed against kunai as the two boys fought, eyes boring into each others'. They whirled, slashed and fought, yet never struck their enemy.

Sasuke knew that he would have to come up with a strategy. He noticed Naruto kept attacking him either head on or from the left.

_That's it_, he thought to himself, masking the smile that wanted to push itself onto his features. Instead, he created two Bunshin while Naruto was flipping backwards and sent one over to the shadows, knowing that it would attack from the right while the real Sasuke could get it from above. The other pretended to be Sasuke as Sasuke retreated to the shadows as well.

Naruto attacked, moving towards the left again. A second later, he was thrown off-balanced when something was flying at him from the right. He rolled with the something before seeing it was a Sasuke clone. A moment later, it and the clone he had been attacking disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto looked around wildly.

_Where is that bastard?_ He asked himself before something landed on him from above, twisting his arms around his back as well as holding his legs down. It was a hold that pretty much made the victim immobile.

"Goddamn you, Sasuke!" Naruto growled, struggling but Sasuke wasn't letting up.

"If you tell me what's the matter, I'll let go," Sasuke told the boy.

Naruto snarled something incoherent before struggling a little more. When he realized he couldn't get out of this hold, he finally sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you, just get off."

"Promise."

"Yes."

Sasuke let go and the blonde slowly got to his feet. He motioned for Sasuke to walk with him back to the bridge. They were walking along in silence when Sasuke finally spoke.

"What's up with you and the hospital?" he asked.

"I can't go back there," the Uzumaki muttered softly, almost tearfully. "I can't go back to that place. They… they'll hurt me again."

"Naruto… what did they do to you?" was the Uchiha's concerned question.

Naruto looked down. "Nothing… nothing physical, I think," he began. "I was out of it for most of the time I was in there." He sighed. "Kyuunan couldn't heal me from the scratches and physical wounds that well. It took most of his strength to bring me back to life. The fun part is… my immune system no longer works on its own. It's depended on the fox for so long that it wasn't doing anything." He laughed bitterly at this point, a shadow crossing his face. "The hospital decided they didn't want to waste their precious medicine on a _monster_… a _demon_ who doesn't even deserve to live."

A harsh smack across his face brought Naruto back to the present. Sasuke was standing in front of him, shaking from the rage that was consuming him.

"Goddammit, Naruto!" he shouted, glaring at the blonde.

Naruto was a bit taken aback. He had never seen his rival like this. He had seen several sides of Uchiha Sasuke. But none of them had been this one. For once he didn't have any type of comeback. He just stared, wide-eyed at the boy, as though asking for an explanation for scaring the crap out of him.

"Why the fuck do you keep doing that?" Sasuke growled. "Always with what _they_ think of you – where's the Naruto who never gets down about nothing? Who's scared of nothing? Who's willing to sacrifice everything to become Hokage? He was here… _where did he go?_"

Ice walls fell in front of Naruto's blue eyes and a small smirk appeared on his lips. "Do you really want to know the answer to that, Sasuke?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded. His fists were clenched and his throat was dry.

"_That_ Naruto died," was the blonde's answer. "He died protecting _you_."

With that said, the Uzumaki made his way once again to the bridge, not even caring if Sasuke was following him or not.

Sasuke just stared after the blonde, astonished by the younger boy's words.

Naruto felt immediately guilty after saying those words to Sasuke. He felt as though he was about to cry. What had come over him – to say something like that? If anything, Sasuke had been nice all of the times that Naruto needed him to be. Even if Naruto didn't truly acknowledge it, there was always a line that was never crossed by the two rivals.

And yet he had just crossed it. He had just put Sasuke down in a way not much different from when the villagers always put him down.

He was no better than the villagers.

He was ashamed.

Sighing and shaking his head, Naruto saw that Kakashi was back at the bridge, humming tunelessly to himself.

"Ah, Naruto, where's Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shrugged. He looked behind him, but there was no trace of the brunette genin anywhere.

"Come on, Naruto, we need to get you checked out at the hospital," Kakashi said.

Naruto trembled slightly. He _really_ did not want to go back there, but something in his head told him that it was better for him if he did. After all – it was only a check-up, right? Those usually only lasted an hour at most, so it wasn't like he would be staying there overnight or anything.

"Fine," he muttered reluctantly. Kakashi grinned.

"Don't worry – nothing will happen while I'm there," he told the blonde.

Naruto just looked at him as if to say, "sure. You just keep on believing that."

Kakashi sighed, and began the walk to the hospital.

The hospital was as full of hellspawn as Naruto remembered it to be. Not only that, but the blonde wasn't exactly _happy_ that he had been dragged all the way to the top of Hokage Tower, only to find Sakura there, informing them that Sandaime wasn't there right now and that they would have to go to the hospital anyway.

Now he sat in one of the waiting chairs, his entire disposition cold and angry. He hated hospitals. It went further back than his most recent visit. Not even Naruto knew why he hated them so much – he just did. It was a nameless phobia, but then again – Naruto was afraid of crowded places, so it could have stemmed from there.

The hospital certainly was crowded. Only Kakashi was here. Sakura had decided to leave and no one really knew where Sasuke was right now.

Naruto's mood darkened when he heard a nurse call out his name. He stood, with Kakashi at his side, and followed the nurse. She didn't address him anymore after calling for him. When they reached a room, she opened the door and gestured them in.

"Wait here," she said, her voice cold. "The doctor will be with you shortly."

Naruto and Kakashi nodded and went into the room. Naruto took a seat on the bed-thingy and Kakashi sat on a chair.

"Hmm… it seems they are taking a while," Kakashi commented after an hour and a half of waiting.

Naruto just nodded. Kakashi slowly put his book away. Just as he was about to stand up, the doctor made their way into the room. Naruto's eyes widened unexpectedly at the appearance of Dr. Tomikoto.

Tomikoto took a look at his patient and sneered, turning to Kakashi. "Take him elsewhere," he growled. "This is a hospital for _humans_, not _animals_."

Naruto's body began to tremble, but he kept chanting _don't cry, don't cry_, in his head to prevent the tears from falling. Even the anger in his body was spent. He didn't know what to do anymore – didn't know how to make it through anymore. Nothing made sense.

Everyone hated him.

And Naruto had pushed away the one person who had acted like he actually cared.

Kakashi was about to snap at the man when Naruto hopped off the examining table, walking out the door. "Don't bother, Kakashi," he murmured. "It doesn't matter."

"Naruto-" Kakashi began but the blonde was gone. Turning to Tomikoto, his one eye showed more anger than ever. "I'll deal with you later." The threat was growled out in the lowest, most dangerous tone that Kakashi could muster.

Tomikoto was sweating with fear as the jounin made to follow the blonde.

Kakashi caught up with Naruto right outside of the hospital. The blonde was standing at a set of crossroads. He seemed torn as to which way to go. Little did Kakashi know the significance of those three roads.

The left path headed towards Iruka's house.

The center road was the one the blonde would take if he wanted to return to his empty apartment.

The right route was the one he would take if he was heading back to Sauske's.

This was truly strange for the blonde. Naruto didn't know where he would go. He didn't want to go back to his empty house, but he felt that he deserved it after what he had said to Sasuke. He didn't want to intrude on Iruka anymore, so that point was crossed off. It was too confusing and the boy felt as though he might curl up and cry. Instead, however, he just stared ahead, wondering what he should do.

"Is there a problem?" Kakashi asked as he came even with him.

"Why did you bring me here?" Naruto snapped in a strained voice. "Why didn't you just _listen_ to me?"

Kakashi was taken aback by the blonde's behavior, even if it was understandable. Naruto didn't like to ask questions. He had always been the one that would try and not question people about things. He just let them live.

"I thought that they would be better than this," was Kakashi's soft answer.

All hold that Naruto had on his grief and depression was lost as he continued to yell angrily at his teacher. "I _told _you they would be like this! I told you so! And you didn't listen to me! You didn't fucking care!"

"Naruto, I'm sorry," Kakashi admitted softly.

The boy was too much gone to hear him. Tears cascaded down his cheeks as he dropped to his knees in despair. Kakashi did the only thing he could think of. He hugged the boy. Naruto soon fell asleep and the jounin picked him up, cradling him to his chest.

After a short moment of contemplation, Kakashi decided that taking the right path might be best.


	10. Tourniquet

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 10: Tourniquet**

Kakashi knocked on the door to the Uchiha house. He was surprised that no one answered the door. Normally, Sasuke was on top of little things like that. He was actually a little worried about the fact that Sasuke wasn't home when he clearly should have been. Slipping into the house anyway, Kakashi looked down at the blonde boy in his arms.

Tear trails stained his cheeks. He looked helpless, lying still in the silver-haired man's arms. Sighing softly to himself, Kakashi went over to Sasuke's bed. Surely, the brunette wouldn't care just this once. It wasn't like Sasuke hadn't given up things to the blonde before this.

Kakashi pulled back the covers of the bed and placed Naruto on the sheets, removing the blonde's shoes. He smiled as he tucked in the boy. Sometimes – like when he had seen Naruto break down – made him wonder why he had passed the three genin once again.

However, it was moments like these that reminded him of why he had done such a thing. They had deserved it – they knew what the true meaning of shinobi was. If anything, Naruto's "death" had enhanced their wills and ideals on the path of the ninja.

Kakashi was proud of them. Sure, there were rough parts along the way – but ultimately, he knew that his team knew how to work together even in the direst of situations. With that in mind and a slight grin on his face, Kakashi left by an open window in Sasuke's bedroom.

Sasuke looked around him. It had long since grown dark and he had no clue why he was still out in the woods like he had been for the entire afternoon. He had been talking to Naruto… and then what the boy said had stunned him and shattered his belief in the fact that… that Naruto actually cared for him. He didn't know what to do anymore. Everything was twisting out of control and there was nothing the brunette could do to stop it.

_No!_ Sasuke growled to his mind. _Don't think about it_. He shook his head rapidly, turning his eyes up to the stars above him. Slowly, without realizing what he was doing, he went over to the bridge to get a better view of the heavens. With a soft smile, he lay on his back and reached a hand up.

"One," he said aloud as he began to count the stars. In his head he added, _for the day I met you_.

"Two."

_For the day we kissed._

"Three."

_For all the fights we had._

"Four."

_For the time that the three of us took Kakashi to ramen just to see what his face looked like. _

"Five."

_For the day you first declared you would be Hokage._

"Six."

_For all the times that you smile at anyone_

"Seven."

_For the day we both made it to the top of the trees in chakra-training. _

"Eight."

_For the strength you gave to Inari – to show him that heroes still existed. _

"Nine."

_For all the times when you would get back up, never admitting defeat._

"Ten."

_For your eyes – like open mirrors, that show the emotions that guide you_.

"Eleven."

_For the way you would stand up for yourself, no matter to who you were against._

"Twelve."

_For your sunshine golden hair and sea-blue eyes._

"Thirteen."

_For the times when you would just sit there, thinking, with a soft smile on your face._

"Fourteen."

_For the time you and I went up against Haku and you wouldn't back down. _

"Fifteen."

_For when you took the senbon for me – sacrificing your life and your dreams for mine._

"Sixteen."

_For when you woke up from dying – I was never happier than when I found that out_.

"Seventeen."

_For when you fell into my arms and I wanted to hold you like that forever._

"Eighteen."

_For the day when you were crying so much that you fell asleep in my arms. _

"Nineteen."

_For when I put you in my bed to sleep. I swore you looked like an angel._

"Twenty."

_For when you woke up and smiled at the fact that you were ruffling my hair._

"Twenty-one."

_For when you began to act more like your old self again_.

"Twenty-two."

_For wanting to protect me from the senbon – and admitting that to my face. _

"Twenty-three."

_For being brave enough to admit that you were the seal and host to a demon._

"Twenty-four."

_For letting nothing get you down._

"Twenty-five."

_For coming back, even after all the things Sakura did to you._

"Twenty-six."

_For making me feel emotions again._

With that, Sasuke fell asleep.

When Sasuke awoke again, not even the moon was still in the sky. In fact, Sasuke was sure that he could see the dark blue of night becoming lighter. Despite his obvious uncomfortable sleep, he felt well-rested. He slowly got to his feet and went back to his house. He needed a shower, he realized. And maybe he would catch another hour or so of sleep in his own bed.

The thought of his own bed made the Uchiha _almost_ smile. After all, the only times that Sasuke smiled were few and far between, and usually only happened when a certain blonde fox-boy was in the vicinity.

_Don't think about him right now_, the tired boy's mind warned him as he stepped inside his apartment. He locked the door behind him and made his way over to his bed.

Only to find that someone else was already in it.

He stared down at the whiskered cheeks of none other than the boy that had been on his thoughts recently. He noticed how peaceful Naruto looked and couldn't help leaning over the blonde, placing his lips softly on the Uzumaki's. Realizing what he was doing, Sasuke jumped up, stepped back.

He couldn't believe he had just done that. He couldn't believe that he had just… _kissed_ Naruto!

Falling into a chair, he just stared at the still form on his bed in shock. Does that mean that he liked Naruto? Did he go so far as _loving_ the blonde? He was so confused. He couldn't figure any of this out! Why was everything so damn hard to understand! He just wanted to live the simple life of an avenger – kill Itachi, die in the process, etc. Nothing in that had anything to do with love.

Yet here he was, and he was in love. He knew it – had known it for a while. No matter how much he had tried to ignore it, deny it or make it go away – he was still in love. With a guy. Named Naruto.

_Gah! _Sasuke screamed mentally, curling his legs up on the chair. _Why the fuck am I so fucked up? I didn't ask for this! I swear I didn't. Gods, Naruto's gonna hate me now. If he doesn't already._

At these thoughts, the Uchiha only grew slightly more depressed than he already was, which was understandable considering how very close he was to a mental breakdown. He rocked back and forth, hugging his knees to his chest.

Gods, why did he feel this way? What if… what if Naruto found him disgusting or something? What if… oh, gods, Sasuke didn't want to think about it. And that was how he came to his current decision.

He could never tell Naruto how he felt.

He had to act the same he always had.

It was for the best, he hoped.

Naruto felt extremely groggy and thirsty as he awoke. The first thing he noticed, before he opened his eyes, was that the blankets smelled like Sasuke. His eyes opened slowly. They stared up at the ceiling. That definitely _wasn't_ his ceiling. With a groan, Naruto put a hand to his head and lifted his upper body up.

Dammit, he was thirsty and he had a huge headache. And just why was he in Sasuke's bed?

Naruto noticed the Uchiha curled up on a chair, asleep. Stepping onto the floor softly, Naruto took the blanket that had previously been covering him. He wrapped it around the Uchiha tightly. Slowly he made his way to the kitchen. Surely Sasuke wouldn't mind if he borrowed a glass of juice to quench his thirst.

Not really caring if the brunette would mind or not, Naruto got himself said juice and felt almost immediately better. Slowly, he pulled a piece of paper off the counter and hunted around for a moment for a pen.

He wrote only one word on the paper, going back into Sasuke's room to place it on the pillow. Hopefully Sasuke would understand what the blonde meant. Without saying anything, Naruto quietly made his way out of the residence and back to his own.

When Sasuke woke up, he realized that he was _warm_. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was still jack-knifed on the chair, his blanket wrapped around him. His eyes shot to the bed. It was empty. A single piece of paper lay on the pillow. Stumbling to his feet, Sasuke walked over to the paper. He dropped his blanket on his bed. The Uchiha picked up the paper, his eyes traveling over the one word written there.

"Thanks."

Not able to stop himself, Sasuke lay back on his bed. Thoughts whirled through his head but he couldn't make any type of sense from them. He was an _avenger_, goddammit! He had duties to fill. One word, scrawled on a piece of paper for the boy that made him feel again shouldn't throw him into this state of mind.

He was supposed to be strong!

He was supposed to be the stoic observer, not really giving a damn for anything around him. And yet he did. He found himself more and more falling into a deep, black pit of despair.

It was strange, the way he thought of Naruto. Everytime he thought of the blonde, he would think of the time that the day the blonde died. Everytime he did that, he would think of the last time he lost his important people. When that happened, he would think of Itachi and his duties as an avenger.

His mind was very twisted that way and seemed to love to torment him because of it. If only he could get out of the cycle, of his past. If only he could break free of it.

But he knew he couldn't. He had sworn, under blood, that he would not rest until Itachi had been killed, over the bones of his family. It was an oath. And he knew he had to fulfill it.

He brought a forearm over his eyes, his hand clasped around the paper wrinkling it. Unbeknownst to him, there was a happy smile on his face as he stared into the darkness of the back of his eyelids. There was a knocking on his window, startling his mask back into place. He moved his arm and saw none other than Kakashi waiting to have the window opened.

Sighing to himself, he stood up, hiding the "letter" if one may call it that and opening the window.

"Why do you want?" he grumbled.

"Eh?" Kakashi said. "Is that any way to greet your sensei?"

_I would push you out the window, _Sasuke thought, _but then I'd have to clean the lawn of your guts and that's just not appealing to me right now. _He did not let any of his thoughts trickle out onto his face as he stepped aside. Kakashi jumped in.

"Where's Naruto?" the silver-haired jounin asked.

Sasuke merely shrugged. So it was _Kakashi_ who had brought the blonde to his apartment. He didn't care why anymore.

"So you let your possibly broken teammate out into the harsh streets after what he had to go through at the hospital last night?" Kakashi asked, lightly.

Sasuke's eyes flashed. Tensing so that he _wouldn't_ attack the jounin, he growled, "What happened at the hospital?"

_Why am I doing this? Why am I bothering to care about all of this?_ The Uchiha was beginning to wonder, however he still glared silently at his teacher.

"I think that you should ask Naruto that, not me," Kakashi replied.

"Why?" Sasuke snapped. "I don't know where he is – but you're right here! Answer my question." The boy's scowl, if possible, had deepened.

"Hmmm," Kakashi pretended to think before bluntly saying, "no."

Sasuke nearly strangled the jounin, but thought better of it. He grabbed his jacket and stomped out of his house. He had to find that damn blonde. He had to make sure that Naruto was completely and totally okay – and that Sasuke didn't have to be… this worried about him.

Sasuke ran first to Naruto's apartment. He knew that the chances of the blonde being there weren't that great, but he couldn't help needing to check the obvious places first.

He peered in through the dark window. It was obvious that Naruto wasn't there. So, Sasuke headed off towards Iruka's house. He banged on the door furiously.

Iruka answered it a moment later. "Sasuke-kun?" he asked, obviously puzzled.

"Do you know where Naruto is?" the Uchiha blurted out, trying to regain a little bit of his breath. He had been panicking during the walk, so he had hyperventilated… which wasn't good for him.

"He's in here, why?" Iruka wanted to know.

"May I see him?" Sasuke inquired in his more stoic tone.

Iruka nodded and stepped aside to allow Sasuke into his house. It was a modest, two-story building. The first thing Sasuke noticed was the Wall of Iruka and Naruto. He smiled at some of the pictures, which were obviously taken by a third party, who never appeared _in_ the actual pictures.

The second thing that Sasuke noticed was the _feel_ of the place. It was cheery, giving off a warmth. The atmosphere was welcoming and Sasuke almost felt himself drown in all of the feel of Iruka's house, but he kept himself from melting at it.

"Naruto is upstairs, asleep," Iruka said. "Would you like to see him now or wait until he wakes up?"

"I'll see him now," Sasuke whispered.

Iruka smiled. "All right, why don't you come help me make hot chocolate for the two of you before going up there?"

Sasuke nodded, following the older man to the kitchen. "Iruka-sensei," he stated. "If Naruto's asleep, then why are you making hot chocolate for him?"

Iruka chuckled slightly. "He's improved much – I think it happened during the bridge mission," Iruka explained. "You can't walk into his room very often anymore without disturbing him. Dunno why his senses are higher these days, but its good to see that he may be Hokage yet."

"You believe he could accomplish it?" Sasuke wanted to know. He watched the pot, waiting for it to boil. Iruka was sitting on one of the chairs at his kitchen table.

"Come over here, Sasuke-kun, a watched pot never boils," he reminded the Uchiha. When Sasuke came over and sat down, Iruka returned to their conversation. "I never doubted he could do it. Whether or not he had the fox sealed inside of him – he's always been strong."

"Then how comes he always screws up on everything?"

"Attention. He never had anyone give him a great amount of attention. He learned as a small child that if he was loud and obnoxious, people would know he was there. They would yell at him for whatever he was doing, but he would always smile at the beginning."

"Why?"

"Because they had addressed him for the first time. After that stage, he knew that he couldn't gain respect that way, but he didn't stop. He was actually really smart, but he knew that he couldn't compare with the smartest person in class," Iruka was telling Sasuke. "So, instead, he became the dumbest person. He became the person everyone would ridicule. That way – they would pay attention to him. He didn't care about anything but attention."

"So you're telling me that the dobe is intelligent?"

"More so than you would even believe. After all – have you heard of any _other_ six year old who could strategize the way he would gain the most attention even _before_ meeting his peers?"

"No."

"And have you ever heard of an orphaned child who managed to figure out how to get his own apartment and keep it with no one's help by the age of four?"

"No."

"And have you –"

"I get the point, Iruka," Sasuke interrupted, not look at his ex-sensei. Instead, his ears took in the bubbles from the pot. "Water's boiling."

Iruka nodded and stood up, taking the pot off the burner and pulling out a tray, two mugs, and hot chocolate packets.

"You go on up, I'll be there in a moment."

He quickly and efficiently made two mugs of hot chocolate and put them on the tray. Sasuke had left right after he had been told to. He walked up the stairs. Peering into different rooms, he finally found Naruto at the end of the hallway. The boy looked so peaceful sleeping, that Sasuke didn't step into the room yet, content on just watching the blonde. He was tucked up a comforter up to his neck and had his hand sticking out, laying in front of his nose. It reminded Sasuke somehow of a small child.

"What do you want, Sasuke?" a tired voice asked. Sasuke's eyes darted back to Naruto's, only finding that they were open.

"Visiting you."

"Why?" Naruto growled slowly. He didn't bother moving, but he watched Sasuke as the boy hunted around for a chair. Finally finding one, the Uchiha brought back over to the bedside and stared at the boy.

"There are a few questions I wanted to ask you."

"Like what?"

"What happened last night? Kakashi mentioned something, but he wouldn't tell me anything."

Naruto's eyes darkened and he turned his back to Sasuke. Of course, the Uchiha _would_ be the one to put Naruto in a bad mood right after the blonde had woken up. No one else would be so inconsiderate to him. Well… they would probably kick him, with the exception of Iruka-sensei and maybe Kakashi-sensei. But _only_ Sasuke would make him remember what he had come to Iruka's house to forget. _Only_ Sasuke.

"I don't want to talk about it," Naruto grumbled. "So go away."

Sasuke was slightly hurt by these words. He reached a hand out and was trying to decide whether to let it rest on the boy's arm or not. Naruto was obviously not in a good mood, but Sasuke could understand that.

"Please Naruto, tell me what happened," Sasuke pleaded.

"Why would you _care_?" Naruto's voice reached the Uchiha's ears. "After all – you were the one so adamant about me _going_ there to begin with!"

"That was because I thought that they wouldn't hurt you – or do anything to you. I only told you to go to the damn hospital because I care!" The words were out of his mouth before Sasuke even realized it. It was times like these that Sasuke really wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole. Before Naruto had a chance to reply, there was a knock on the door of the room. Sasuke turned around, seeing Iruka, caring the tray with the two mugs: an orange one and a blue one.

"Hot chocolate for the two of you," the teacher said warmly. He set the tray down on a table near to the two boys. "Just bring this down later, all right?"

Both boys nodded to the brown-haired man. With that said and done, Iruka left, shutting the door behind him.

Sasuke reached out and took the blue one. Naruto sat up, his hair tousled and took the orange one. Leaning back against his headboard, he stared at Sasuke with emotionless eyes. He took a sip of the scalding liquid, all the while thinking about how to reply to Sasuke's statement a moment ago. Finally, he realized that the best question was the easiest.

"Did you mean what you said before Iruka came in?" he wanted to know.

Sasuke sipped his hot chocolate. It took him a moment before he nodded. He couldn't deny what had been said – but Naruto didn't need to find out the _extent_ of his caring.

Naruto sighed, looking tired – weary almost. "Do you really want to know what the doctors said?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded.

Naruto gave a hollow laugh. "Well, first things first, they made us wait at least four or five hours when we first got there," Naruto began to explain. "After they called our name, they said 'the doctor will be with you shortly.' It was another hour and a half before the doctor showed up."

Sasuke stared at Naruto, but the blonde wasn't meeting his gaze.

"The doctor turned out to be Tomikoto," Naruto continued, his voice flat and dead, trying not to express how much pain it made him feel to relive this. It had been a long time since someone had called him an _animal_ to his face, they all preferred _monster_, or _demon_. "The Tomikoto took one look at me… and he said 'go find another hospital. This hospital is for humans, not… not _animals_.' After that, we left."

Without looking back at Sasuke, Naruto just sighed. "It's stupid, thinking that the insults will ever change, but I suppose what they say is true. I suppose that this entire fucking village is right. After all… I'm not human, I'm just a name-less seal. I lost my life the day Kyuunan was sealed inside of me."

Sasuke had to contain his anger, sipping the hot chocolate as though he didn't care. However, the façade was too hard for him to keep up right now. "You are human," he whispered, looking down at the cup in his hands. Naruto's head snapped to stare at the boy, though he couldn't see the Uchiha's eyes. "You are alive… otherwise you wouldn't be Naruto. You have people who care for you, so you're not alone anymore."

Naruto didn't exactly know how to reply to Sasuke's words. Instead, he just stared openly at the wall, trying _not_ to look at Sasuke. He put his empty orange mug on the tray.

"Well, that's about all I wanted to say," Sasuke mumbled. He stood up, putting his mug on the tray. "I guess I'll leave now."

Before Naruto could realize what he had done, he grabbed Sasuke's hand. Sasuke, so intent on going the other direction, wasn't good enough to catch himself as he fell onto of Naruto, their fingers still intertwined. Both boys were blushing at the close contact.

Neither spoke. Sasuke's mind was screaming at him to get off, but his body was basically saying "screw off" to his mind. He didn't know what to do. His onyx eyes were widened in surprise as he tried to stop staring into Naruto's blue orbs.

Both boys couldn't do anything. Sasuke felt his head tip lower, his eyes slowly shutting as his mouth descended upon Naruto's. The blonde was a little surprised at first, but his eyes slid shut as he responded to the kiss.

Naruto felt Sasuke's tongue against his lips, begging for entrance, to which he allowed. His breath quickly as his and Sasuke's tongues battled for dominance. Sasuke won, sliding his organ into Naruto's mouth, exploring every inch of the cavern.

Naruto lightly sucked on Sasuke's tongue and one of them moaned, but no one could really tell who it was that did the action.

All of the sudden, Sasuke pulled back, feeling as though he had just tasted ambrosia. He stared down at Naruto, lovingly, before realizing that this _wasn't_ a dream.

_Oh, shit, he's going to hate me, _the poor brunette thought. Not brave enough to give Naruto even a chaste kiss, the Uchiha jumped to his feet.

With a frantic, "See ya later," the brunette ran out of the room and out of the door of Iruka's house. He needed to get somewhere where he could think about what had just happened.

He had said he needed to go, Naruto had pulled him back and then he _kissed _Naruto. That wasn't really surprising… it was the fact that Naruto had _responded_ to the kiss that Sasuke was scared.

What if he had misinterpreted it or something? What if Naruto was imagining that Sasuke was someone else? What if he hadn't realized that it was Sasuke he was kissing? What if he actually liked Sasuke? What if Sasuke had destroyed an entire future relationship because he had run away?

The questions tormented him, but he didn't have enough room in his mind to think rationally of answered.

Naruto stared at the ceiling, not moving from the position that Sasuke had left him in. _Sasuke_ had kissed him. And he had kissed his best friend back.

Something must have been in that hot chocolate. It had to have been the hot chocolate. If it wasn't… Naruto didn't know what to do. Instead, he believed firmly that the Hot Chocolate was the bringer of all the questions that ravaged his mind, and the kidnapper of all the answers he sought.

Damn hot chocolate, he thought before falling once again into sleep.


	11. Whisper

**Title: Ragtag Heroes Are Never Fallen**

**Chapter 11: Whisper**

Soon after Sasuke had run out of the house, Naruto had gotten out of bed and decided that it was time that he stopped mooching off Iruka for now. He grabbed his stuff, what little of it he had brought with him, and walked slowly down the stairs, alert for anyone stopping him. He had tried to sleep, but the boy's face – Sasuke's face made him think differently and he couldn't sleep. He had tossed and turned for what felt like hours before giving up.

He heard murmured voices from downstairs. When he picked up his name and Sasuke's in the sentences being said, he quickly masked his chakra and crept down the steps, trying to hear what was being said better.

"You don't actually believe that Sasuke would - ?" Iruka was demanding an answer out of his visitor.

"Actually," came the cool, soft voice of Kakashi. "I believe that's a very good chance of what he's done. After all… if what I believe is true about him and Naruto…"

"Shut up, I refuse to believe that to be true!"

"Why not, Iruka?"

"Because! It just wouldn't make any sense!"

"Explain it to me how it wouldn't!"

"They couldn't – you know them… they wouldn't!"

"Yet I have witnesses that said they did!"

Naruto was thoroughly confused. He knew that Kakashi was getting angered, as was Iruka. But he still didn't know why. It had to do with him and Sasuke – but _what_ had to do with him and Sasuke?

The two shinobi in the kitchen had stopped speaking. Figuring that there was nothing else for him to hear, Naruto quietly crept out of the house and walked down the block. He wasn't entirely sure where he was headed, but he liked being outside once again. It made everything seem livelier than it was. It _had_ been days, maybe even _weeks_ since he last came outside and actually looked at his surroundings.

He crept through the park, pretending (as he had many times when he was a child) that he was the ruler of this land of forests, benches, bushes and swingsets. He tromped happily through the deepest part of the woods – the part that led through the outskirts of the city. He loved this part this best. This was Uzumaki Naruto's kingdom – his magical place to go to when everything else had fallen apart.

He sat there for a while, looking above him, leaning against a tree. Normally, he would train here or something else of that fact, but today he just felt like sitting there. Sitting there and doing nothing, except taking in the sounds and smells of the woods around him.

He could hear the twittering of the birds, could feel the light breeze play across him, and could smell the earthy greenness that comes from being in a place like this.

Oh, how he loved it here.

He closed his eyes, a light smile on his face as he sat there. He was confident that no one could find him here. He was hopeful that no one would ever find this place, save for him. It was his secret place. It was his happy land. Not even his apartment could beat the security and sanctity that he felt when he was here.

Suddenly, the normal quiet that all forested areas normally has, was broken by the running footsteps of someone.

Naruto snapped his eyes opened. He was no longer in the forest for some reason. His back was leaning, instead of against a tree, a large reddish rock. He looked around him. Where was this place? There was nothing around him; no cities, no plants. The land he was in was a large reddish barren wasteland.

"Help!" someone yelled. "Help!"

Confused, Naruto looked around for the person, whomever it was, in order to help them.

His nose picked up something, a strange scent attacking his nostrils. Not wanting to inch closer to this scent, he made his way in the opposite direction. It wasn't long before he stumbled upon a large white fox. The fox had deep golden eyes and long white canines. It came up to about Naruto's height, which scared him.

Yet somehow he knew that the fox wouldn't hurt him. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew – as he stared into those large golden orbs.

**_Who are you?_** He heard in his head. Naruto somehow knew that it was the voice of the fox in front of him.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he replied.

**_Why are you here?_**

"I'm not entirely sure myself. I just woke up and was here. Do you know how I can go home?"

**_Wake up again_**.

Naruto looked at her confused for a moment before he felt himself drifting in a pool of water, like swimming to the top. He didn't have to hold his breath, as the water was somehow breathable. He didn't even think about it as he made his way to the surface.

The blonde snapped his eyes open. He was in the forest clearing. Shaking his head, he tried to figure out what happened. He looked up at the sky. It was nightfall.

"I must have fallen asleep," he muttered to himself. He stood, stretching out the kinks in his muscles before something made him look up.

There stood Kyuunan's brother. He vaguely remembered the man from when they had met last time. Of course, Naruto hadn't been the dominant spirit last time – but that didn't matter. He stared into the fiery red eyes of the other.

Kyuushin smirked. "Well, it seems the brat is the one I'll be speaking to this time," he murmured softly to himself.

Within a second, Kyuushin was right in front of Naruto.

"Tell me, boy, where Uchiha Sasuke is," Kyuushin growled.

Naruto's brow furrowed slightly. He narrowed his blazing blue eyes. "What the hell do you want Sasuke for?"

"Reasons that you should stay out of."

"What do you mean! He's my friend, I'm not going to let you take him!"

Kyuushin laughed. It was a cold, hollow sound that made Naruto shiver. "Do you think you'll be a match for me?" he sneered, teeth bared.

Naruto backed up a step, tripping over his feet and falling to the ground. He kept on backing up, Kyuushin stepping closer every time. "You _will_ tell me where Uchiha Sasuke is, or I _will_ have to kill you." The demon extracted his claws, which were obviously sharp.

Naruto gulped, fumbling for a kunai – but feeling none. He looked down. _Shit_, he cursed. He had left his holster at Iruka's house. He cursed at himself several more times before looking defiantly up at Kyuushin.

"You wouldn't kill your own brother, would you?" Naruto asked. He knew about the relationship between Kyuunan and Kyuushin.

"I disowned that rat, he's no longer my family," Kyuushin sneered, grabbing Naruto's shoulder harshly with his claws. "Now where is the Uchiha?"

Naruto shook his head violently.

**_Kit, let me come out_**, Kyuunan was begging him in the back of his mind.

_You'd get hurt_, Naruto sent back. _I don't like people getting hurt._

**_Idiot! I'll get hurt anyway._**

_I don't care… I just… I want to protect people… _

_**Last time you did this, you died, you idiot. **_

_Well, you wouldn't last much better, would you?_

To this, Kyuunan had no reply. It was true, Kyuunan was not a fighter. Because the voice in his head had quieted, Naruto could now turn (reluctantly) back to the matter at hand.

Kyuushin sneered at the boy, grabbing Naruto's neck and slamming him against the tree, holding him there. "So, will you tell me where Sasuke is, or will I have to _make_ you tell me?" he threatened.

Naruto looked at him, blue eyes clear and a small smile on his face. "You'll never learn where Sasuke is from me," he whispered, feeling the air slowly leave him and become harder to breathe in.

"I could kill you, brat," the demon snarled.

"So do it… do whatever you want – but you won't learn where Uchiha Sasuke is from me!" Naruto snarled.

"Why do you want to protect that Uchiha brat so much?" Kyuushin asked, eyes boring into Naruto's. "After what I heard from you – how you _died_ for the brat and how you've _changed_ because of it. Such cruel words, don't you think, Naruto?"

Naruto looked away; he didn't want to deal with this person – this demon. He didn't want the past to be brought up. But he knew that he had to protect the Uchiha at all costs.

"Tell me why, brat," the demon ordered.

Naruto felt lightheaded. "Because…" he began, choking slightly. "Because… Sasuke is the most important person to me." A small, peaceful smile alighted his face.

He didn't remember anything after that, except for Kyuushin's fist coming towards his face. Dimly, as the blackness set in, he thought he could hear someone calling his name.

Sasuke, after leaving Iruka's house, wandered the city. He had an air about him that made not even the people who knew him want to bother him. He felt strange – happy and sad at the same time, numb yet sensitive. It was strange to figure out how he was feeling. All he knew was that these emotions – these demons that he had held back for so many years were eating away at his soul right now. He just wanted to let them free, but he feared what would happen if he did.

He found himself in the park. He didn't know where he was going, but he just kept walking. His thoughts were keeping a steady stream of hell in his mind. The tormenting thoughts made his chest feel like it was about to explode, and his mind wasn't dealing with the thoughts too well either. He made his way away from where he knew that a lot of people congregated. He didn't want to have to deal with other humans right now. He didn't want to have to deal with anyone.

He just wanted to know what the hell he was feeling. However, he didn't know – so he just kept walking.

He kept moving away from the populated parts of the village to the deserted forests. They weren't always deserted, but they were dangerous. At least, that was what all of the villagers told their children. They had made up gruesome horror tales about the beautiful forest that surrounded the Leaf, in order to show their kids that if they went into the forest, they might not return.

He didn't understand why people lied to each other like that. Sure, Sasuke lied to himself a lot, but… he wasn't lying about trivial things like the greenery. He lied about the secrets that he possessed within his heart. Suddenly, he heard a voice. He couldn't place it, but it was familiar.

"Well, it seems that the brat is the one I'll be speaking to this time," the voice said. Sasuke snapped himself out of his thoughts, wondering where the voice was coming from and why it was so damn familiar.

"Tell me, boy, where Uchiha Sasuke is."

When the Uchiha heard this, he hid in the foliage surrounding the clearing where he distinctly saw Naruto and a tall man with reddish locks. Yet something seemed off about this man. He didn't seem to be completely human – his beauty too much for mortal means. He didn't understand why the man was familiar, though, as Sasuke would surely have remembered someone so beautiful.

Naruto was glaring at the man. "What do you want Sasuke for?" he snarled, eyes glaring at the man who was now right in front of him. He didn't move yet, not finding the strength to. Something had been draining him lately – an emotion that he didn't even want to name. So he conserved all the strength that he could expend.

"Reasons you should stay out of," was the stranger's barking reply.

"What do you mean?" Naruto snapped. "He's my friend! I won't let you take him!"

Sasuke felt a kind of warm, fuzzy feeling enter his chest when Naruto had said he was his friend, but the brunette could only wish that Naruto's feelings went farther than that. He knew that it probably wasn't so, but he could hope, couldn't he?

"Do you think you'll be a match for me?" the older of the two snarled. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Of course Naruto wouldn't be a match for this man. Sasuke could tell that Naruto was in a weakened state.

After all, the boy had yet to regain his strength from when he had died. Sasuke had noticed that the last time the two of them fought. Sasuke kept his eyes on the duo, unable to tear himself away. He knew that if it came down to it, he wouldn't hesitate to help his friend, no matter what he would have to sacrifice in return. No way was Naruto going to die twice because of Sasuke! The boy couldn't handle it! He wouldn't allow it!

When Naruto took a step back from the stranger, he managed to get his foot caught on a root. He kept backing up as his adversary made his way towards him. Sasuke wanted to jump in there, grab Naruto and run for it, but something was holding him here – something was telling him to stay. He didn't know what it was, but he listened to it, surprisingly.

"You _will_ tell me where Uchiha Sasuke is," the stranger was demanding of Naruto, "or I _will_ have to kill you."

_Not on my watch, _Sasuke thought, though he felt frozen. He couldn't move, he could only watch as the events in front of him unfolded.

Naruto fumbled for a weapon, though his weapons pouch was not on his leg.

_Heh, dobe_, Sasuke thought, a wry smile on his face. He couldn't help it. Naruto was turning once again into the person he had known, even though it happened slowly. Not only did Sasuke see the anger that flashed in the boy's eyes, but Naruto had to be stupid enough to leave his weapons somewhere. Sasuke would have laughed if he did such a thing.

Suddenly realizing that there was really nothing he could do, Naruto tried to goad the stranger in the only way he could – with words. "You wouldn't kill your own brother, would you?" he asked.

Sasuke racked his brain. Naruto was an orphan, and he was a single child. Wait, Kyuunan had a brother, didn't he? So that made this person that fox demon… Kyuushin, Sasuke recalled his name to be.

Kyuushin merely smiled, a snake-like grin which spoke of malicious intent. "I disowned the rat, he's no longer my family." He extracted his claws, gripping Naruto's shoulder. Naruto barely winced at the effort to get him to confess as to Sasuke's whereabouts. Sasuke stared. He had to do something – he couldn't stand around and do nothing. No, he couldn't, but what could he do? Sasuke stepped carefully, but quickly, around the perimeter of the clearing, trying to figure out the best means of attacking.

By the time the Uchiha looked into the clearing again, Kyuushin had been beyond his limit. He had slammed Naruto against the tree, holding the boy so that his feet were dangling in the air. He had the blonde by the neck. Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight. He had to strike soon, or else it would be too late for Naruto. And he didn't want to be too late for his friend.

"Why do you want to protect the Uchiha brat so much," Kyuushin was demanding to know, his red eyes narrowed. "After what I heard from you – how you _died_ for the brat and how you've _changed_ because of it. Such cruel words, don't you think, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't look at the demon. Instead he looked at the foliage, right where Sasuke was. He hid his surprise at seeing his teammate there. This was his chance for forgiveness – this was his chance to make up for what he had said. He couldn't look at the Uchiha while he said this, though. He didn't want to see the other's reaction.

"Tell me why, brat."

Sasuke listened, wanting to know the answer as well. He had to admit that he was curious. He loved the boy, but why was Naruto risking his life – _for the second time, _mind you – for Sasuke? The Uchiha didn't understand.

"Because," Naruto choked as Kyuushin pressed down on his throat a bit more. His body had probably begun to shut down by now, one limb after the other. "Because Sasuke is the most important person to me."

Sasuke felt his heart stop. He didn't know what was going to happen next, but Kyuushin had raised his fist and finally Sasuke found the capacity in his limbs in order to move. He shoved himself off his branch, screaming "Naruto!" Using the momentum he got from rebounding off another tree, the boy slammed Kyuushin to the side. Naruto's face was a little bruised and bloody, as the Uchiha had been unable to reach the two in time to stop any attacks. He lay the blonde down, knowing that if Naruto was hurt because he hadn't been fast enough he would be kicking himself for this for a long time.

He smiled when he saw that Naruto was okay, with the exception of being a little breathless but he wasn't dead and Sasuke didn't see any lasting injuries.

The Uchiha turned back to Kyuushin. The demon was getting to his feet, blood-red eyes narrowed.

"So you finally appear, boy," the demon sneered.

"What do you want from me?" Sasuke demanded to know. He wanted to know who the hell was after him.

"An acquaintance – one that this town will be introduced to again soon, asked me to give you a message, Sasuke-kun," Kyuushin told him, not moving to attack. "This is the message: '_Never tarry, for life shall stop, and a soul will suffice. Look across a mirror, under the wheel, to find the crystal you seek. There's a mountain in a stream, on a tablet of clouds to lay a sacrifice. Journey to the ends of sand, flip the dragon's head, and your quest you'll complete.'_ Yes, that was what I was told to tell you."

Sasuke stared at the fox king, wondering what the hell he meant by the words he had said. Kyuushin reached into his tunic and extracted a scroll. "It's written there, but I thought it would sound more dramatic if I said it aloud," he confessed as a wisp of flame began to circle his form. All of a sudden, the flame became a bonfire and the bonfire went out, leaving nothing burned and nothing there. Not even the grass was charred, and Kyuushin was nowhere to be seen.

Sasuke turned back to Naruto, staring at the boy. He wondered how he was going to continue now. He waited for a few moments, when the boy began to stir again. In his fist, he tightened his hand around the scroll unconsciously.

"Sasuke?" Naruto murmured softly, eyes opened. He sat up wearily, a hand on his head. He didn't forget anything, so he wasn't in danger of a concussion.

Sasuke closed his eyes, standing up once he saw that Naruto was okay. He turned his back, speaking to the boy, but not bearing to face him.

"Naruto…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to be leaving the village soon…"

Naruto was confused. Why would Sasuke need to leave the village? After all – they had only just become genin; there was so much to learn. Did Sasuke mean to go all by himself? That was mean! Naruto didn't want to see Sasuke go, so he would go with him – that was the only thing that made sense to the boy. If Sasuke was going to leave, then Naruto would follow. It didn't matter to where he went. It just mattered that he got there in the end.

"Wait," Naruto told Sasuke. He stumbled to his feet, hugging Sasuke loosely from behind, resting his forehead on the boy's back. "Wait," he repeated in a softer tone.

Sasuke sighed. Naruto heard the sound as he closed his eyes.

"How long do you want me to wait, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, wondering what the boy meant. "Do you have something else to say?"

"Several things, actually, Sasuke," Naruto told him. "Wait until you're stronger, 'til _we're_ stronger to leave the village. Please. I… I want to go with you."

Sasuke closed his eyes, feeling the wind caress his face. Did Naruto even know what he was saying?

He looked up at the sky, in which the first stars were beginning to appear.

_Twenty-seven_, he counted in his mind, _for a promise to be by my side_.

"Two years, just two years… its not that long, Sasuke," Naruto told the boy. "We're too young right now, but two years – and let's do whatever you need to do outside of the village, please?"

Sasuke sighed again, wondering if he should comply by the other boy's wish. He wanted to… and in the end, he nodded.

The two genin began to walk back towards the city. Both were able to walk, despite Naruto's beating, bestowed on him by Kyuushin, and Sasuke's prior paralysis. They walked side-by-side.

"Two years, eh?" Naruto asked, wrapping his arm around Sasuke's. Sasuke blushed at the close contact but quickly shook off the feeling.

"I don't know how you talked me into waiting that long," Sasuke grumbled.

"It must be because you know I'd kick your ass if you ever tried to leave without me!" Naruto countered with a grin.

Sasuke smirked at his companion good-naturedly. "Tch, like you could, _dobe_," Sasuke retorted.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, before opening them completely again with a laugh. Sasuke just shook his head, hiding a small smile behind the façade of being annoyed at his friend.

The two walked off under the stars which twinkled from the heavens. They walked back towards the village that they would use to their advantage, becoming as strong as they could, before fulfilling their promise.

In two years, they knew, the real adventure would begin.

_Kyuubi-kun's Korner!_

_Yo, everyone! Hi, its Kyuu-kun here. I decided to do something that I've never done before. I've decided to end one fanfic and make another as the sequel to the first. This fanfic – the start of the journey that I just thought up earlier today is hereby completed. I'm sorry if people were expecting more. Look out for my new piece of work, which should be out soon – though I'm not entirely sure when. I hope you people liked this chapter, although I know that it was a bit rushed. Well… what can I say… absolutely nothing, actually, in my own defense. Isn't that pathetic? Oh well, we've established many thousands of times that Kyuu-kun is a moronic fool and an idiot on top of that! ((insert me sticking out my tongue here))_


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